Mentally Unstable
by Bionic Egypt
Summary: I pretend like I'm normal. I pretend that I'm sane. But sometimes you just have to let your walls come down. How can I let my walls down when there's no one I trust with my secret? There's no one that I trust enough to tell them about my delusions.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Though I do not currently own House of Anubis, I am making plans with Amber to steal the ownership papers. Now if only we knew where they were kept . . . Until then, enjoy Chapter one: Ignoring the Girl.**

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Chapter one: Ignoring the Girl

I walked to school like I had the last month, ever since I started school here, alone and wearing my headphones turned all the way up. No one walked with me, even though Fabian or Amber tried every other day. I took my time, knowing that at any second she could show up. I didn't want to see her today, though there were some days that I wished she would show up.

"Hey!" I heard over the music. Oh, crap, it was her. "Nina! Wait up!"

I walked away as fast as I could, hoping she would leave. Unfortunately, she followed me, skipping right beside me until we got to school. She followed me to my first class, a bright smile on her face as she chattered away to uncaring ears.

I glanced over at her once, just as class was starting, and looked at Aria for the first time in days. Her shiny red-brown hair hung just past her shoulders, her bright, intense caramel eyes staring up at the board. Her uniform matched mine exactly, right down to the gray flats.

When class ended, Aria went down the hall and vanished into a class room. I let her go, not saying a word. I hadn't talked to her in a while. I went about my day like normal, just going through my classes. I talked to Amber in my third class, science, but the conversation didn't last long. Even though I had known her for a month, I still wasn't able to even remotely trust her.

At lunch that day, I sat at the end of the table, as far away from the others as I could get without seeming standoffish. Aria walked into the lunch room and plopped down beside me, no food in front of her. She never ate lunch, not in all the years I had known her.

"Hey, Joy, guess what?" Aria said, smiling at the girl. "I found a guy you might like. He definitely seems to be your type: nerdy but cute."

Everyone ignored her, causing her to hmph in annoyance. After she tried to get Patricia and then Jerome to talk to her, Aria finally gave up and flashed a wink at me before getting up and skipping away.

And that's how my Friday went.

When we got back to Anubis House, I went right to the attic and turned on my iPod, setting it to the loudest soundtrack I had. Once I was sure the song was playing, I put my headphones in and picked up my book. I had a habit of drowning out the world.

Twenty minutes later, Trudy came into attic and told me it was time for dinner. I smiled at her, telling her I would be there in a second. A few seconds after she left, Aria skipped into the room, trying to get me to stay. I rushed past her, breaking into a run as I hurried down the stairs to get to the dinner table. I took my spot at the head of the table and stared off into space until Fabian started talking.

"So, Nina, are you going to visit your aunt tomorrow?" he asked, grabbing my attention.

"Yeah, I go every week," I said, playing with my food. I wasn't all that hungry. After talking to Fabian for a few minutes, I finally decided to eat something. Everyone talked amongst themselves for a few minutes, me staying silent, until Aria came downstairs and sat right beside Amber.

"Hey, Ambs," she chirped. "Ooh, love your jacket! Is that the real thing or just a knockoff?"

Amber didn't answer, instead turning to Mara and asking her for help with their math homework later. Aria started yelling at people, trying to get a rise out of anyone. I winced at the volume of her voice, getting Fabian's attention.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, slight worry in his eye.

I smiled at him, though it was a little forced. "Yeah, just a headache. Nothing I can't handle."

"Do you need a Tylenol?" Mara asked, digging around in her purse and pulling out a familiar white and red bottle.

"No, thanks," I told her, shooting a smile. "I'm fine."

"Well, if you're sure," she trailed off, placing the bottle back in her bag. Dinner came and went, everyone ignoring Aria as she tried to strike up a conversation with anyone who would listen.

"Is everyone mad at me?" she asked. "What did I do to you guys?"

No one answered her, and after a while Aria gave up and left in a huff, a ticked look on her face. I was glad to see her leave, but part of me wished she would stay. She was an old friend from America, after all, but she was annoying.

Once dinner was over, I excused myself so I could leave and go to my room. I walked peacefully and slowly, wondering what was going to happen when I got inside. Would Aria be in there when I got there? Would she annoy me today, or would she leave me alone?

I couldn't imagine what might happen.

* * *

** Okay, so in this chapter you've met Aria. Do you agree with Nina? Is Aria annoying? In the next chapter you will find out something about Nina and Aria's relationship, along with Nina as a person. This story will eventually be Fabina, but it will have hints of Jabian just because I'm cruel. There will be no real Fabina moments –hugging, hand holding, kissing –until at least chapter ten, maybe farther. If you want Fabina, then you will just have to wait patiently. Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I have arrived in England and met up with Amber. She's got a cat-burglar scheme to get the papers from the courthouse. I still don't own House of Anubis, but until I do enjoy Chapter two: My Mental State.**

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Chapter two: My Mental State

"Come on, Nina," Aria whined pathetically, standing at the foot of my bed. "Talk to me. We haven't talked in forever! It's been what, three years since we've actually had a conversation? Please say something!"

I ignored her, drowning her out with music. It was the only thing that kept her out, though it didn't work half the time. As she continued to speak, I thought back to when I had first known she was a nuisance.

_"Come on, Nina, play with me," a six-year-old Aria begged me._

_ I ignored her. I had a cold and I wasn't allowed outside my room. She knew that, but she chose to ignore the rules. Mommy had made me promise not to leave my bedroom and I didn't. I kept every promise I ever made._

_ All but one._

I wondered briefly what would happen if anyone ever found out the truth about Aria and me. What would the Anubis gang do if they found out there were two new American students instead of just one? I sighed, going over the facts in my mind.

My name is Nina Martin, and I am mentally unstable.

When I was around five or six, though I could never remember which, I had invented an imaginary friend named Aria. We did everything together. I had no need for other friends, because there was always one to play with in my own little world. We would play dress-up, tea party, we danced and sang. We had so much fun. Then the accident happened.

Mom and Dad died in a car crash when I was seven years old. The crash scared me so bad that I became dependant on Aria. Since she was the only one I had ever talked to, she was the only one who would talk to me. When I was ten and she still wasn't gone, I became a little worried, but I down-played it. Just weeks after my eleventh birthday, Gran caught me talking to myself and sent me to a shrink.

They told me I had schizophrenia, PTSD, mild depression, and anti-social-personality disorder. Add all this up and it did not make for a good high school experience. When people at my old school found out I visited a shrink once a week, they started with their insults. It started out as whispers as I passed them in the hallway, but it soon turned to shouts called across the cafeteria. That's why I was glad I could leave.

When I started going to school in England, I did my best to keep my secret. I wrote down every lie I told to keep myself safe so I could remember what I was telling people, I never mentioned Aria to anyone. Everyone was convinced I went to go see my Aunt Lily once a week instead of Dr. Jenks, the local therapist. No one knew I was crazy. No one knew that I saw a figment on my imagination.

No one knew.

With my headphones in and a book in my hands, I was able to drown out the world for a few hours. I dove head-first into the world that existed only between the pages of a book, my whole being concentrating on the story.

An hour or two passed before a hand touched my shoulder, shocking me out of my trance-like state. I looked up while simultaneously taking out my headphones. When I saw it was just Amber, I calmed down. She had a slightly worried look on her face, but I was just grateful that it wasn't Aria.

"Nina?" Amber said, frowning slightly.

"Hey, Amber," I greeted, forcing a smile onto my face. "What's up?"

"Well," she began, "I'm just a little worried about you. You've been . . . distant ever since you came here."

I frowned. Had I really been that distant? I mean, sure, I didn't hang out with Amber every day, but I did talk to her every once in a while. Didn't I?

"Sorry," I apologized. "I haven't meant to be distant. I'm sure you're all really great people, it's just–"

"You don't know us and you're worried we won't like you," Amber said. I didn't mind her words, though I felt as though I should have. They were the truth, if not the whole truth.

"Yeah, you're right. Tell you what," I said, forcing another smile onto my face, "after I get back from visiting my aunt tomorrow, we can hang out. Okay?"

Amber agreed that it would be fine, and left, probably wanting to give me some space. Once she was gone, I threw on my pajamas and slipped into bed, a full hour before Victor gave his 'pin-drop' speech. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, I woke up and looked at the clock. Shoot, I only had one hour until I had to be at Dr. Jenks' office, and it took me half an hour to get there. I quickly got dressed and rushed down the stairs, almost running into Alfie on my way to the kitchen.

After I apologized for almost running into him, I found Trudy making breakfast. She aimed a smile at me as she told me that she already called a cab for me and it would be here any minute. I thanked her just as I heard the sound of a car pulling up in front of the house. When I had ran out of the house and hopped in the cab, I finally let myself calm down.

No one knew where I was going, unless you counted Trudy. She was the only one who knew where I went once a week. Not even Victor knew my secret. I had been forced to let Trudy know, but now that she did, it didn't seem so bad. She had proven to me that she could be trusted with my secret. And besides, she hadn't even mentioned telling the other residents of Anubis House, which I genuinely appreciated.

When the cab pulled up to building where Dr. Jenks' office was, the cabbie gave me an odd look, but didn't say anything. He probably thought I was crazy, which would've been the truth, but I was glad he accepted his payment without talking. I got out of the cab and watched it pull away, letting out a small sigh. Here it goes.

I walked into the office and sat down in the waiting room. They knew I was here. Ten minutes passed, during which I flipped through an out-dated magazine to amuse me. Finally, the door on the other side of the room opened and an older woman with long brown hair and a kind smile called my name.

I got up and followed her into a small room with three chairs. I sat in one of them on one side of the desk, and she sat in the one on the other side. After a few seconds, Dr. Jenks spoke up.

"So, how are you, Nina?"

I twirled a strand of hair around my finger. "I'm good. You?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Has Aria shown up at all over the last week?"

I scoffed at her question. "About three times a day. Just the same as every other week."

Dr. Jenks smiled, though even I knew she wasn't happy. "Well, how are your friends doing?"

I looked at her, confusion plain on my face. "What friends?"

Dr. Jenks looked taken aback. "What?"

I repeated my question, making her frown. Had I said something wrong? Did I upset her?

"Nina, you have friends, don't you?" she asked after a few more seconds of silence.

I thought about it. "Not really. I don't talk to people much, so I don't have a chance to make friends. Amber seems to want to hang out with me, though. It's probably because she doesn't know the truth."

"And what is the truth, Nina?"

I sighed. This was where we had stopped every week. Dr. Jenks had my diagnostics, but she wanted me to talk about my problem. I had tried for years to keep my issues to myself, so three therapy sessions weren't going to make me open up.

* * *

An hour or so passed before my session was up. I could tell Dr. Jenks was upset that I wouldn't talk to her. I guessed that by week three most patients told her at least something, but I was too afraid to tell anyone anything. It had taken me two and a half years to open up to my last therapist, so Dr. Jenks wasn't going to crack me that easy.

I took a cab back to Anubis House, ready to face whatever was thrown my way. Amber was expecting me to hang out with her, so as soon as I stepped foot in the house I unwillingly shoved my iPod into my pocket. I was going to hate this, but Amber might get suspicious if I listened to my music while we were hanging out.

"Nina!" Amber called cheerfully, seeing me walk inside. "Come on, we were just about to play Truth-or-Dare."

I internally winced at the name. Dare I could handle, but the truth part? What if they asked a question I couldn't answer? Though I hated it, I had promised I would hang out with her, so Truth-or-Dare it was. Everyone was sitting around the common room, so I took the only seat left: beside Fabian.

"Okay, I'll go first," Patricia said. She looked at each of us before settling on her target. "Mara, truth or dare?"

Mara considered it. "Truth."

Patricia rolled her eyes, but asked the question all the same. "Mara, who do you like least here in this room?"

Mara blushed, but answered Patricia, looking at the person guiltily. "Jerome. Sorry, but you can be a bit annoying at times."

Jerome just chuckled. "No offense taken, Jaffrey."

And so that's how the game went. Alfie was dared to eat a whole jalapeño pepper without a drink and keep it down, which he did. Amber had to tell all about of her first crush (I found it interesting that her first crush was Mick). Patricia had to kiss Jerome, both of them complaining. Mick had to pretend to propose to Joy, who ended up having to tell everyone who she liked (Fabian). Fabian had to tell us his deepest, darkest secret –a dare that shocked me –which happened to be he had never been on a date. Then it was my turn.

"Nina," Jerome said with a smirk on his face. "Truth or dare?"

I thought about it. If I chose dare, then I was almost certainly be embarrassed, but if I chose truth, then there was a good chance they'd ask a question that would lead to Aria. Hating myself as I did so, I chose dare.

"First, a question," Jerome said, slightly startling me. "Do you have an iPod?"

I nodded, pulling it out of my pocket.

"I dare you to play your most-played soundtrack for us. Every single song," he added, earning a groan from the rest of the Anubis residents. I sighed as I scrolled through the music until I came to my soundtrack.

Everyone but Patricia looked like their ears were about to start bleeding by the time the first song was over. By the end of the seventh and final song, Jerome was seriously regretting his decision.

"You actually listen to that rubbish?" he asked after the song ended.

"Hey!" Patricia said, startling me. "It's not rubbish! It's great music. I have that same soundtrack. Nina, I had no idea you had such a great taste in music."

I blushed as I thanked her, sticking my iPod back in my pocket. Everyone looked at me funny, but I ignored them. Maybe they just thought I was odd. It wasn't like they asked if I was crazy or not.

Maybe they thought I was almost normal.

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**I'm so sorry for falling off the face of the earth for the last three weeks! We were going to go to the library (since I have no internet at my house I have to use theirs) but so much was going on that we didn't. On a different note, did anyone guess that Aria wasn't real? I'm assuming most of you did if you read the summary, but still. Next chapter Nina gets some advice from a certain source. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Someone found out about my and Amber's attempts to steal the papers for House of Anubis. We have been kicked out of the courthouse that held the papers in their archives, sadly. But Amber has a new plan, and it involves Jerome Clarke's help, but I think we can pull it off! I still don't own House of Anubis, but until then enjoy Chapter three: My Past.**

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Chapter three: My Past

Two weeks passed, September ended, and I was okay. Well, as okay as I could be. Aria showed up as much as normal, but she wasn't staying as long as she used to. I went to my sessions every week, but they never went farther than "How are you?" and "So now what do you want to talk about?"

Amber tried getting me out of my shell, but I wasn't going to venture out of my hiding place on a whim. It would take a miracle to get me out of my safe-haven. Patricia asked me once about my music, but she never went farther than that.

One day early October, Aria was sitting on the edge of my bed, humming off key as loud as she could. I gritted my teeth, but did my best to concentrate on my homework. I had a huge project due next week, and I had to work every spare second to get it done.

She kept humming, trying to drive me nuts. I let out a harsh, emotionless laugh at the thought. She had already driven me insane, and there was no turning my back on the truth. I was only able to work on a little bit more of my project before I growled in frustration. Fine! She won!

I set my books down and stared at the ceiling, wondering how I could get rid of Aria right now. Music wasn't working today, apparently, so it was back to plan B: ignoring her. When she realized she couldn't get me to talk, Aria hopped up and rushed out of the room just as Mara walked in. I had no idea why she was coming into my room, but I turned to face her.

"Hey, Mara," I greeted, setting my book down on the ground.

"Hi Nina," she said, standing in the middle of the room a little awkwardly. "I wanted to know if you needed help with your project. It's thirty percent of our grade, you know."

I smiled at her, trying to be friendly. "No. But thanks, Mara."

"Oh, well, if you're sure, then I'll go see if Jerome needs help. I don't think he's even started it yet."

I laughed. Yeah, he probably hadn't started his project yet. After Mara left, asking me once more if I wanted any help, I looked back at my book. I still had half of my project left to do in a week. Knowing my luck, I'd only get a little more of it done before I had to turn it in, but I was going to try my hardest.

* * *

The next thing I knew, Amber was shaking me. I looked around frantically, wondering what was going on. Wait, why was the sunlight coming from a different direction? Oh crap, had I fallen asleep?

"Nina! We're going to be late for school!" she whined, tugging on my arm. I rushed to get ready for school, doing everything I could to get there in time. I couldn't be late. I promised Gran I wouldn't be late or miss any of my classes if my reason wasn't important, and I never broke a promise. Except for that one . . .

At school, Aria annoyed me again, but I could handle it. She was my constant shadow, the only person who had been near me throughout everything. I both hated and loved her for that, though at times it seemed like I felt each emotion equally.

When I got back to Anubis House, everyone was hanging out in the common room, working on homework and gossiping. Aria drifted around the room, listening to everyone's conversations.

I pushed her out of my mind and started up a conversation with Fabian about our science homework, a safe topic to keep my mind busy. This had been a fairly normal day, but I wasn't going to push it.

* * *

That Saturday, Trudy called a cab and I traveled to Dr. Jenks' office again for my weekly session. The doctor was waiting by the door when I walked in, showing me I was a little late. Something must've been wrong with me this week. I was never running late, but I'd almost been late to every class the day before and now this!

"Good morning, Nina," Dr. Jenks said, taking her normal seat. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine. You?"

The woman smiled. "I'm fine. So, has Aria shown up during the week?"

"Every day. She's still annoying, still odd. I wish I could understand her, but she seems too joking to have any real depth. Does that make sense?"

Dr. Jenks nodded. "Actually, it does. A lot of my patients with your condition say much the same thing. Are you ready to talk about your past?"

I sighed. There was that question again, but my answer remained the same. "No. I'll give you the short answer, though: it was boring, it was annoying, it was mine."

Dr. Jenks gave me an odd look, like she didn't know what to make of me. After what seemed like an eternity of strange glares, she spoke.

"You could always write it down," the doctor suggested. "No one has to read it. Just write down what you want and if you ever feel like sharing, you can just let someone read it."

I considered it. That actually wasn't a bad idea. I already had the notebook that I used for documenting the lies I told so I didn't get them confused hidden under my mattress, so if I just turned to the next page, it would be like a memory diary or something. After promising Dr. Jenks that I would think about it, she changed the subject.

The session went about its normal way, me staying silent about Aria after that, but I was glad she had a good suggestion for once. I didn't have to tell anyone anything, but I could figure out what was going on just by reading my own notes on myself. What could it hurt?

* * *

When the cab dropped me off at Anubis House, I made sure no one was around as I went into the room I shared with Amber. Jerome and Alfie were outside planning a prank on Mick and Mara, who were in the common room studying. Joy was with Patricia, probably talking about boys or whatever, and Amber and Fabian were hanging out at the dining room table. They seemed to hang out a lot. Maybe they were secretly dating or something.

I closed the door to the room, pulled the small composition book out from under my mattress and dug in my bag for a pencil. Now all I had to do was figure out what to write. It took several minutes before an idea came to me.

_Um, so this is my first entry here, and it might sound stupid, but oh well. Dr. Jenks suggested writing about my past and present in here so if I ever felt like talking I would already know what to say. I know I'll never want to tell anyone, but I thought it would be a good idea to write it down anyway. I thought I might start with my past, back when Aria was little more than an imaginary friend. . ._

_ We used to play stupid little games, but she really enjoyed playing one called Capture the Dragon. One of us would be the brave knight and the other the fierce dragon. Aria was always the knight, though. She tried being the dragon once, but she sounded like a choking cat when she growled. _

_ She had always been so nice to me, though she was admittedly annoying. We were the best of friends. How much closer can you get than the person who lives inside your mind? _

I smiled as I reread what I wrote. Every word was true. How much closer could you get? But now Aria wasn't a friend. She was a menace that I couldn't get rid of, a pest that wouldn't go away. And I had no idea how long my wall of secrets and lies could hold up before they came crashing down around me.

* * *

**Still no Fabina! I know, it's sad. I don't even think I typed Fabian's name more than once in this chapter. Next chapter you'll see Amber forcing Nina to spend time with everyone and a cooking disaster. Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Amber managed to find Jerome's phone number and he agreed to help us! Now all we need to do is wait a week until he can fly out here and tell us his master plan for gaining the ownership to House of Anubis. I still don't own House of Anubis, but until Jerome shows up, enjoy Chapter four: Can You Trust Me.**

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Chapter four: Can You Trust Me

A few days after I started my journal, Amber wanted me to spend time with each of the Anubis residents one-on-one. I had argued that I didn't need to, but she insisted that if I spent time with them, I would find that they weren't too bad. I tried to tell her that I didn't think they were bad, that it was my choice to avoid everyone, but she wouldn't let it go.

First Amber wanted me to spend time with her. That wasn't too bad. She spent two hours working on my hair, all the while asking me questions about myself.

I told her everything I had written down in my book, everything I had made up to keep me safe. I told her I was going to visit my Aunt Lily every Saturday. When she asked about my friends in America I told her their parents didn't let them make long-distance calls, so they couldn't call me. And when she asked about my parents, I told the biggest lie yet.

"They died in a car crash," I said, which was the truth. "But I wasn't with them. I found out about it days later, when Gran finally told me."

That part was the lie. I had been in the backseat of the car when they died, and I had been told when I woke up in the hospital. It wasn't exactly the best time for the doctors to tell me, but they hadn't known that. Once Amber was done with my hair, she made me look in the mirror.

My hair actually looked decent for once. She had pulled it over one of my shoulders and pinned it with a sparkly hair pin. Amber then tried to get me to let her put makeup on me, but I refused. I ducked out of the room just as Amber pulled out her makeup brush.

"NINA!" she called as I rushed down the hall. Okay, so now that I had dodged Amber, I had to spend time with everyone else. I had promised her, after all. So instead of spending the whole day in the attic like I wanted to, I headed downstairs and talked to the first person I saw. Jerome.

"Hey, Jerome," I said, walking over to him. "You know, we haven't talked a lot since I got here."

He looked at me with a stunned expression. "So?"he said after a few seconds.

"So maybe we should talk. Besides, Amber's making me talk to everyone for a while. Trying to make me see you guys aren't weird or anything. Which I don't think, but she seems to think I do. So, will you talk to me for just a few minutes so Amber will shut up?"

"Um, sure . . . What do you want to talk about?" Jerome asked, sitting down on the couch.

"Um, what are you good at?"

"Pranking, lying, and ping pong. I'm very well rounded, as you can tell. You?"

I shrugged. "Nothing really. I cook a little, but not that great."

"Oh. So, family?"

"Dead, except for my Gran and my aunt. I visit Aunt Lily once a week because she doesn't have any other family in England."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I told him. "It happened a long time ago. Your family?"

"Dad's not in the picture, Mum took care of me and Poppy," Jerome said. I could tell he wasn't comfortable talking about himself to me. I could relate. After a few more awkward questions, I decided to leave. Jerome was more than glad to let me.

After spending hours talking to Mara, Patricia, Joy –that one was awkward as well as odd –Mick, and Alfie, it was time to spend time with Fabian. I found him in the kitchen working on some sort of culinary mistake.

"Can I help?" I asked, seeing him struggle with it.

"Do you know how to cook?" Fabian asked in return, looking at me hopefully.

I smiled. "A little. What are you trying to make?"

"I'm not really sure. I just started following the recipe that Alfie gave me," Fabian said, still trying to mix the goop in the bowl. I gave him a steady glare until he realized why I was staring at him. "Oh. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Let me see something," I said, taking the paper from the counter and reading over it. Once I understood what it was for, I had to laugh. Alfie had given Fabian the recipe for silly putty! The only reason I recognized it was because we had made it in class a few years ago.

"Fabian," I giggled. "This isn't food! This is silly putty!"

Fabian looked from me to the bowl and back again. His face contorted in confusion and a little anger, which died out almost immediately into amusement.

"How did I fall for that again?" he laughed, setting the bowl down on the counter.

"You tell me," I said, reaching for a rag on the sink. "Here, let me help."

We had the mess cleaned up in a few minutes, laughing the entire time. Once the mess was cleaned up, I explained why I was here. Fabian chuckled when I told him.

"Sorry about Amber. She can't keep out of other's business."

"It's okay; I don't mind talking to everyone. I mean, I learned a lot about aliens from Alfie. Did you know that they aren't little green men? Apparently most of them are gray."

Fabian laughed again. "Yeah, Alfie can get a little obsessed sometimes. Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault Alfie is the way he is, is it?"

"What? No! No, none of us have fueled Alfie's alien obsession, except maybe Jerome."

We kept talking, and I found that I actually liked talking to him. I learned a lot about his friends and family. His little sister sounded really funny. When he asked me about my friends, I lied to him like I had to Amber. Then he asked me about my family, and I lied to him like I had to Jerome. I was about to leave when Fabian said something that made me stop.

"Nina, can I trust you with something?" Fabian said, freezing me in my tracks.

"What?"

"If I tell you a secret, can you keep it?"

I gaped at him. "Why would you tell me anything? You haven't known me very long."

"I think I can trust you. Can I?"

I nodded. "I'd never tell anyone anybody's secret. I promise."

Fabian smiled, though I felt as though it was for the wrong reason. He thought I was keeping his secret just because I was nice. I was keeping his secret because no one should ever reveal another person's secret to someone else. It was wrong and spiteful.

"Well, hopefully you don't think less of me for this, but sometimes I keep a journal. I don't write anything deep or revealing in it, but things like crushes or my current favorite movie. Does that sound stupid?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I have a journal, too. But I'm being made to write mine."

"Why?"

I made up a decent lie. "Um, Gran wants to know what goes on at Anubis House and I don't like talking on the phone or emailing someone. This way she can know everything if I remember to write."

"Oh. Cool. Maybe I could read it sometime? You know, if there's nothing personal or anything in it."

I smiled. "Not a chance, Fabian. You know how it is, Gran wants to know some things I don't want Anubis House to know."

"Oh, so you have a crush's name in it?"

"Nah," I said. It was the truth. I didn't have a crush.

"Well, if you ever decide that I can read it, I'll let you read my journal. Fair trade?"

"Fair trade," I lied. God, I hated lying, and that was all I seemed to be doing since I arrived in England. But I knew one thing. This was all going in my journal tonight. And no one was ever going to read it.

Ever.

* * *

**Fabian has a journal! Yeah, that'll be important later. Next chapter Nina recounts her first day at Anubis House and a resident goes all Mean Girl on her. Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Amber and I had a hard time finding Jerome. Apparently, not many people know "A really tall guy with ice blue eyes and dirty-blonde hair who is the best prankster at Anubis House" so it took hours to find him in the airport. But when we did find him, he revealed his master plan. When he explained it, Amber and I let out matching Willow-squees in delight. This is so going to work. I still do not own House of Anubis, but until we can exact the plan, enjoy Chapter five: Mean Girl.**

* * *

Chapter five: Mean Girl

The day after Amber made me talk to everyone, I was sitting in the attic alone. I hated that I had had to beg Trudy to let me up here, but I didn't want to get in trouble for sneaking in. I remembered the conversation, not to mention my first day, as if it had happened a few minutes ago.

_I approached the old house, silently admiring the dripping ivy hanging from the ledges. The door seemed to open by itself, scaring me, until I saw there was a person behind it. He was around my age with the darkest brown hair I had ever seen and chocolate eyes. A small smile lit up his face._

_ "Hi," he said. "You must be the new student. I'm Fabian."_

_ "I'm Nina," I said, wondering if I could get past him. He seemed to understand and moved out of the way, letting me past. I walked inside of Anubis House, marveling at the beauty of the architecture. Whoever had built this was amazing._

_ I turned to Fabian, hoping he could help me. "Um, I'm supposed to see a lady named Trudy so she can tell me what room I'm staying in. Can you help me find her?"_

_ Fabian smiled at me, though I couldn't tell if it was forced or not. Probably, I thought grimly. He pointed into the kitchen where an older woman with dark hair and a cheerful demeanor was working. When she saw me, her smile grew. What was it with these people and smiling?_

_ "Hello, dearie," she said, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "You must be Nina Martin. I'm Trudy Rehman."_

_ "Hi," I greeted, still holding the handle to my suitcase._

_ "You must be wondering where you're staying. You're rooming with Amber Millington. Fabian, would you be a dear and show Nina to her room? I'm still working on lunch."_

_ Fabian seemed more than glad to show me to my new room. When we got up the stairs, he led me to a door on the right side of the hall. The door opened, allowing a blonde whirlwind to fly out and stop in front of me._

_ "Who are you?" she asked, hands on her hip. "And what's up with the bag?"_

_ "She's your new roommate," Fabian explained._

_ "I'm Nina," I told her. "Can I come in?"_

_ Amber grumbled, but let me in all the same. After showing me with side of the room was mine, she left, dragging Fabian along with her. I unpacked my things, wondering if I could really hide my past from these people. If I avoided them as much as I hoped to, then I could even hide the fact that my parents were dead._

_ Once I was finished unpacking, setting a few things on my desk to add a little bit of 'me' to the room, I went snooping around upstairs. There was a door at the other end of the hallway, and when I opened it, I saw it led to another set of stairs leading up. Was there an attic? Maybe I could ask Trudy if I could go up there. It was worth a try._

_ I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen where the housemother was still fixing lunch. When she saw me, she beckoned me over. I did as she asked and walked over to her. She asked me a question in a very quiet voice._

_ "Nina, dear, do you need any help with, you know, your condition?" she whispered to me._

_ I felt the blood drain from my face. "How do you know about that?"_

_ "Your Gran called me and told me. She said you might object to it, but she felt that I needed to know. I'm sorry."_

_ I could tell that she really did feel sorry that my Gran had revealed my secrets. But now that she knew, she might actually let me into the attic so I could be alone._

_ "Well, I know I just got here, but there is one thing that you could do for me," I began slowly. "Can I go into the attic? With my –with my condition, I don't like people very much, and I tend to stay alone for a while. Please Trudy?"_

_ I could tell she was wearing down, but I didn't want to pressure her. Then Aria popped up behind her._

_ "Nina! Tell her about me. Then she'll let you go," Aria chirped, bouncing up and down. I winced at the volume of her voice. When Trudy saw my reaction, her face changed from contemplation to sympathy._

_ "Of course you can go, dearie. And stay as long as you like. Just remind me to tell Victor when he arrives tomorrow."_

_ "Who's Victor?"_

_ "Victor Rodenmaar, the caretaker," Trudy explained. "He fixes the house when it falls apart. Now go on, Nina. You can go to the attic."_

_ I thanked her several times before I left, dashing upstairs and into the attic, searching for the perfect hiding spot. There, in the back corner, was the most secluded spot. That was where I would hide._

I shook my head. I had gotten really good at living in my memories over the last few years. It had helped me when the insults became too much and all I wanted to do was hide. A loud _bang_ sounded through the attic, shocking me. The door had been slammed open, revealing Joy Mercer of all people. What did she want? She scanned the room, searching for something. Her gaze finally settled on me, a smirk playing across her face.

"Hey Nina," she said in a fake act of friendliness. I knew it was fake because her eyes were as hard as steel as she looked at me.

"Hey, Joy. What's up?" I beckoned her over, inviting her to sit beside me. I was nothing if not considerate. She looked at the blanket-covered floor in disgust, but sat down in front of me anyway.

"I was just wondering why you come up here all the time. I had asked Trudy last year if I could come up here and she told me no one was allowed in the attic. Suddenly you come and you can stay up here as long as you please. And I want to know why."

What was I going to tell her? The truth? No, I wouldn't tell her the truth. I wasn't going to tell anyone. I tried to come up with a plausible lie, but the only one I could think of was ridiculous. Naturally, that as the lie I told.

"My Gran called and told Trudy that I felt more comfortable in the attic. I spent a lot of my time at home in the attic, and Gran knew I wouldn't be comfortable unless I could come up here. I didn't ask her to tell Trudy anything. I don't want anyone to have to do anything for me."

Okay, so it was semi-believable. I could tell Joy didn't like my answer, though. Her face contorted in confusion and a little bit of anger. What had I said?

"And what makes you so great to deserve special treatment?" she demanded.

"I don't deserve special treatment, Joy. I never have, and I never will. But there are some things that I can't tell you, and I hope you can respect that."

Obviously that was the wrong answer. Joy's eyes flared dangerously at my words, making me wonder just why she was angry. It wasn't like I had told the world's biggest lie; the one I told was solely for protection.

"Can't tell, or won't tell?" Joy asked in a low voice.

I thought about it. "Both, I guess. I cannot and will not tell anyone what I need to keep to myself. I'm sorry Joy, but I don't trust you."

Joy smiled dangerously at me before saying "Well, I don't trust you either. No one does. But I will find out your secret, Nina, and when I do, you'll wish to god you told me. I'm not the nicest person when I feel like my friends are threatened, and a mysterious transfer student with secrets that she says she can't tell anyone about makes me think she's going to hurt someone. Just to warn you."

She got up and left, pausing by the door to shoot me a threatening smirk. Joy was definitely a few fries short of a Happy Meal. I shuddered as her words flew through my mind again.

_I'll find out your secret. You'll wish to god you told me._

Joy Mercer could go all mean-girl when she was threatening people. I think I admired that about her, even though it was me that she was threatening. Man, my life was so screwed up.

* * *

** Ooh, Joy Mercer, resident Mean Girl. Didn't see that one coming. *eye roll* Okay, so I'm not really a huge Joy Mercer fan. My opinion is more or less based on how she acted in season two. Random note: I am living with the uneducated! Seriously, my brother asked me what a crypt was when I had him read a little bit of someone's fanfic. How could he semi-watch House of Anubis with me and not know what a crypt is?! Anyway, next chapter isn't centered around Nina's problem with Aria but one of her other problems and a prank goes horribly wrong. Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: It didn't work. Jerome Clarke's brilliant idea didn't work. We took inspiration from Alfie –which now that I think about it was a horrible idea –and went inside at night like ninjas. What we didn't count on were the silent, motion-sensor alarms. When the cops came, we tried to explain our way out of it, and shockingly enough, Eddie showed up and saved our butts. He told the police that we were here on a dare and he was to blame. After making us promise not to do it again, the cops let us go. Then Eddie got mad at us. Now Amber, Jerome, and I are locked in Mr. Sweet's house with Eddie –which now that I think about it isn't such a bad thing –and we're looking for a way out. Maybe Patricia can help . . . I still don't own House of Anubis, but until we get out, enjoy Chapter six: Nightmarish Memories.**

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Chapter six: Nightmarish Memories

"Oh my gosh!" Amber said suddenly, slapping a hand to her forehead. "I cannot believe I forgot!"

It was near the end of October, and by this point I was fairly fluent in Amber-talk. I could tell from her tone that whatever this was wasn't serious, though it seemed serious to her.

"Forgot what?" I asked, not really paying attention.

"Halloween is next week, and we don't have costumes for the party!" she squealed, bouncing up and down in excitement.

I felt my stomach drop at her words. Whatever I had been expecting, that had not been it. Amber was so happy that she didn't notice my reaction, didn't notice anything at all. My mind raced over what she said, picking out the key word, the one that had haunted me for years on end.

Halloween.

Nine years ago, my parents were in a car crash. That was common knowledge by now, but when exactly they had crashed wasn't. It had been exactly eleven-seventeen p.m. when the car zoomed out of nowhere and slammed into the side of our car.

My parents had died on Halloween night when I was seven years old. I had had at least four or five years left of trick-or-treating left, but I hadn't celebrated Halloween since they died. Every time I saw a fake skeleton hanging from a tree outside a little kid's house, a shiver ran down my spine. It felt like the skeletons of my past were haunting me.

"Nina?" Amber said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Are you okay? You're a white as a ghost."

I almost laughed at her words, though they were anything but funny. Amber had no idea what she was talking about. I had never felt the same after the accident. Amber went into detail about the costume she wanted, telling me we needed matching outfits, but I politely declined. I didn't want to intrude, especially when I knew I wouldn't be much fun to hang out with that night. I'd probably be holed up in my room the entire night, hugging my pillow and trying to forget.

When Fabian came into the room, he noticed the look on my face. Though he didn't comment, I knew he wanted to. What was his problem? I was fine. Well, I was a little bit wreaked, but that was my fine. He chatted with Amber for a few minutes before asking me about the Halloween party Anubis House was throwing. I said I might show up, but I didn't promise anything.

With that settled, I left. I didn't want to sit around and hear people excited about the day my parents died. Once I was far enough away, I sat down on the ground and rested my head against the wall. No, I wasn't going to think about that day. I couldn't let myself think about that day.

* * *

The night before Halloween was here, and I was even more of a wreak than usual. I was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, hugging a pillow to my chest with my head bent down. I did my best to keep my mind clear of every thought about that night all those years ago.

A loud squeal attacked my ears as Amber flew into the room, holding two large shopping bags in her arms. When had she gone shopping? And what had she bought? The blonde pulled a bundle of cloth out of one of the bags and threw it at me.

I caught it immediately and looked to see what it was. It was a dress. The fabric was the deepest purple I had ever seen, hemmed in bright gold ribbon. The front was decorated with gold-embroidered swirls, and the sleeves were as light as spider silk. Amber then tossed me the rest of the outfit, a pair of gold-colored shoes and a pair of gossamer strap-on wings. It was a Halloween costume. Amber wanted me to go as a fairy.

I had dressed as a fairy the night my parents died.

I had hated the sight of fairies ever since.

"You are going to look so great," Amber squealed, a smile lighting up her face. "And now you don't have an excuse not to come down to the party! Ooh, look at my costume!"

She showed me her outfit, a green concoction of sheer fabric and light, airy wisps of ribbon. The front was covered in embroidered gold leaves, the neckline hemmed in light brown ribbon. She was going as a tree nymph, a creature straight out of Greek mythology. Amber would look great in her outfit, but there was no way I could wear mine. She noticed the look on my face as I eyed the costume and offered to trade. I accepted the offer, much to her surprise and excitement.

"I actually wanted to wear the fairy costume," she admitted, "but I didn't know if you wanted something a little more recognizable. Anyway, we'll both look fantastic, and I'll do your make-up, so you don't have to worry if you got it right or not."

"Aw, no costume for me?" Aria whined, popping up behind Amber. I gritted my teeth, but focused on what Amber was saying.

Once the costume situation was resolved, Amber let me go to sleep. I had to come up with a good reason as to why I wanted to ditch the party tomorrow night, but at the moment I was too tired. Without warning, my mind shut down and I was thrust into my dreams.

* * *

The next day, everyone was busy. Mara, Joy, and Patricia were decorating, the guys were planning their pranks, and Amber spent most of the day coaxing me into my costume.

Every time I glanced at the clock, I took a second to figure out how long I had until my freak out. There was a reason the doctors said I had PTSD, after all. Every year, at exactly eleven-seventeen, I relived my parents' accident. It was horrible, and gave me nightmares for weeks after.

By seven o'clock, three hours until the Time, Amber had me 'convinced' to get dressed and ready for the party. She'd threatened to make me kiss Jerome the next time everyone played Truth-or-Dare. Naturally, I did everything she asked.

Once Amber was done with my hair and make-up, she let me look in the mirror. She had used a lot of greens and golds to make me look other-worldly, and she had braided strands of my hair that framed my face. Atop my head was a crown of flowers and vines. Amber had even attached points to my ears. I looked exactly like a tree nymph. I played with one of the braids as Amber finished getting ready.

She had on the fairy costume she had shown me the day before. Her blonde hair was curled just enough to look classy, and her make-up was all silver and glitter. After both of us were ready, Amber turned to me.

"Ready to go?" she asked, opening the door.

"I guess so," I said, unwillingly walking out of the room. We walked down to the common room, admiring the decorations.

Fake spider webs coated everything, even the sarcophagi in the hall way. Set up in random places around the room were pumpkins, fake bats, and hanging ghosts. It looked creepy and cool.

"This looks amazing!" Amber squealed, darting around to look at everything.

"Thanks, Amber," Mara said from the kitchen. She was dressed as Hermione from the Harry Potter movies. Joy darted around the corner dressed like Cleopatra, Patricia not far behind her. Patricia was taking the whole 'goth pixie' thing seriously. She was decked out in red and black with a pair of pixie wings strapped to her back.

"What are you?" she asked, eyeing my outfit.

"Tree nymph," I answered. "It was Amber's idea."

Before I could say anything else, the guys walked into the room. Alfie was an alien, complete with short antenna atop his head, Mick was a zombie, his makeup probably done by Alfie considering how strange he looked, and Jerome was a classic, stereotypical vampire. He even had plastic fangs in his mouth. Fabian rounded the corner, making me smile. He was dressed like the Phantom of the Opera, with the cape and the mask and everything. When he saw me smiling at him, he shot me a smile before walking over.

"So," I said, trying to keep the mood light. "Do you play the piano? Seeing as you're the Phantom, maybe you should think about playing for us."

Fabian chuckled. "No, I don't play the piano. I do, however, play a little guitar."

"Really?" I hadn't meant to sound so surprised, but that was how it came out.

"Really. If you want, maybe I could play for you later? I can't play the music you have on your iPod, though."

I gave a small chuckle. "Actually, I don't like that kind of music. It's just something to drown out certain thoughts or things."

I could tell he was confused, but he didn't comment on it. After a while, Joy started up the music and asked everyone to dance. Amber dragged Alfie into the middle of the floor and danced with him. Jerome asked Joy to dance, though they both didn't really want to, especially after Patricia joined in. Mick and Mara danced together. Fabian and I were the only two left standing alone.

"Um," he said nervously after a while. "Do you want to dance?"

I smiled. "Sure."

So we danced for a few songs together, laughing and smiling at our mistakes and klutzy accidents. When the third or fourth song ended, Jerome pulled Alfie to the side and whispered something to him. Alfie smirked and pulled something out of his pocket. What were they up to?

It didn't take me long to find out. Jerome walked up to Joy and asked her something, while Alfie snuck in behind her. I wanted to say something, but before I could, Alfie dropped a huge rubber spider on Joy's shoulder. She screamed and jumped, trying to get the fake spider off of her. The boys laughed at her reaction, right up until Patricia hit them upside the head.

After the whole fiasco was over, Mara suggested watching movies. Everyone agreed, and we all took our places around the room. I sat in the chair, while everyone else piled on the couches. Alfie put the movie in and hit PLAY.

* * *

An hour later, I was curled up against the back of the chair. Why hadn't anyone told me we were going to watch horror movies? I hated scary movies, but no one seemed to care. I heard a few chuckles from Jerome and Mick when I squeaked in fear as the villain popped up unexpectedly onscreen.

Once the movie was over, Jerome pulled Fabian to the side and asked him something. I couldn't tell what it was, but I could see Fabian didn't like it. Eventually he agreed to whatever Jerome was asking and followed him out of the house.

I felt like I should tell someone, maybe Trudy, where they had gone, but I didn't. It wasn't my life that Jerome was going to mess in. It was Fabian's. As bad as I felt about my decision, I knew it was what he would do in my place. Putting what I had seen out of my mind, I started up a conversation with Amber, hoping nothing would happen tonight.

It was almost the Time when I heard it. The sound of tires skidding across a road. The sound of metal being crushed in an impact. The sound of a car crash.

I looked around at everyone, wondering if it was just my mind playing tricks on me. Nope. Mara and Amber looked freaked, Joy and Patricia confused, and Mick and Alfie worried. We all ran outside, but I was the first to see it.

The car crushed against a tree, glass scattered over the ground.

The two bodies covered in blood sitting in the front.

I ran over, hoping with all my heart that I wasn't really seeing this. I saw Jerome in the driver's seat, blood trickling from a wound on his head. My heart almost stopped as I saw Fabian hanging out of the passenger window. I hurried to him, gripping his arm to check for a pulse. Hard as I tried, I couldn't find one. Oh god. Fabian was dead. He died in a car crash.

And it was the Time.

A feeling like someone had punched me in the gut came over me as I sank to the ground. Nonononono! Fabian couldn't be dead, not in a car crash! The world grew dark as I whimpered in fright.

_I wasn't in front of Anubis House anymore. I was sitting in the back of a pale green minivan, a pillowcase filled with candy next to my leg. I bounced up and down in my seat, having eaten too much candy already. I was driving my parents nuts with my constant chattering, but I didn't care._

_ Daddy stopped at the stop sign and turned around to look at me. He didn't notice the car going a little bit farther than he thought. He didn't notice the black car come barreling down the road until it hit us._

_ I heard the crash; I felt the impact from the backseat. The dumbest thought flew through my mind: I had spent hours getting that candy, and now it was flying through the air._

_ The next thing I knew, the world was growing dark. I cried out in pain as my injuries caught up with me. My whole left side hurt. Daddy and Mommy weren't moving. Why were they red? Were they hurt?_

_ The world faded to black as I heard the first siren._

"Nina? Nina! Are you alright? Can you hear me?" I heard Amber's voice call. I blinked slowly, looking around. Please tell me it had been a nightmare. Please tell me it was just a nightmare.

It wasn't a nightmare. The car was still crushed against the tree. Glass was still scattered over the ground. I was vaguely aware my arms and legs were cut, but the wounds weren't deep. I glanced back at the car, searching for Fabian. Where did he go?

Then I heard his voice. He was calling my name. I looked around, wondering where it was coming from. I didn't see him, making me wonder if I had another delusion I had to deal with. Then Amber pulled him into my line of vision.

"Nina, are you okay?" Fabian asked, kneeling down beside me.

I had no idea what the answer to that question was. Was I okay? I saw Fabian dead in a car crash exactly nine years after my parents died. Jerome walked over, a guilty look on his face.

"Nina, I'm really sorry. The prank was my idea. Fabian had nothing to do with it. I forced him to prank you guys with me because I knew people would miss him more so than Alfie. No offense," he added, looking over at Alfie.

"None taken," Alfie said quietly.

Fabian looked at me, a questioning look of worry in his gaze. "Nina, what happened?"

I shook my head. I couldn't relive that again tonight. But somehow I found myself wanting to tell him what happened. I immediately squashed the feeling. I couldn't tell them, not now, not ever.

When he realized I wasn't going to talk, Fabian shooed everyone away. He probably assumed I wouldn't talk in front of a large group, but I wasn't going to talk at all. I couldn't tell him what was wrong with me without sounding like a freak.

Once he understood I wouldn't tell him anything, Fabian helped me up, letting me use his shoulder for support. My legs were sliced worse than I had originally thought. When we got inside, I found that Amber had told Trudy I had gotten hurt, so she was waiting for us in the common room.

Trudy made me sit on the couch while she got out her first-aid kit. She helped me clean up my wounds and bandage the deeper cuts. I hissed in pain as she poured hydrogen peroxide on the cuts. Once I was all fixed up, I made up an excuse to go up to my room. After I closed the door, I sat on the bed and thought about what had happened to me.

I freaked out again. I saw Fabian and Jerome in a car crash. I relived the crash again. And I wanted to tell Fabian a part of my condition. Why had I wanted to tell him? What would have happened if I had?

Would he have told anyone else?

* * *

**Okay, so you know as well as I do that Fabian would never have told anyone if Nina had admitted her secret. So, next chapter there will be admittance of what really happened to Nina, and a certain someone gets to sing. Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Patricia is gonna bust us out! Yeah, Jerome, Amber, and I are still locked in Eddie's house, but we managed to get a message to Patricia, who promised to help us get out –I think the only reason she agreed was because she suspected I liked her boyfriend, but oh well. We just have to wait a few days until Patricia can convince Eddie to leave so she can bust us out. Now we have a few days to come up with our next plan. I still don't own House of Anubis, but until we're free, enjoy Chapter seven: Talking and Singing.**

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Chapter seven: Talking and Singing

The second of November. It was only two days since I had freaked out at the sight of the car crash. It was only two days since I had gotten that strange feeling that made me want to tell Fabian part of the truth. I was glad today was Saturday, because that meant I could ask Dr. Jenks what was going on. Maybe my condition was worsening, making me think people were trustworthy. Trudy called a cab for me like always, but this time, just as I was walking out the door, she asked me a question.

"Nina, are you alright? You've seemed a bit off lately," she observed, a worried look on her face.

I forced a smile as I answered. "I'm fine, honestly. It's just been a rough week."

"Well, if you're sure. Have fun," Trudy told me as I walked out.

A half hour later I was sitting in Dr. Jenks' office, waiting for her to say something. She gave me a knowing look, like she knew I was waiting on her. Finally, she said something.

"Nina, your housemother told me over the phone that something happened this week, but no one would tell her what it was. Do you want to talk about it?"

I sighed. I had been expecting this. I really had. So, for the first time, I opened up to her and told Dr. Jenks what happened.

"The boys thought it would be funny to play a prank on everyone on Halloween," I said softly. "So Jerome made Fabian go outside with him. None of us knew what they were doing. I just assumed that Jerome wanted Fabian's help with something outside. I had been right about that, though. About ten minutes later, I heard the sound of tires skidding across the road. At first, I thought it had all been in my mind, a side effect of my condition. But when everyone else reacted, I figured out it was real."

"And then what happened?"

"We ran outside and I was the first to see the car. It was crushed against the tree, glass across the ground. Jerome and Fabian were in the front seats, bloody. I tried to check Fabian for a pulse, but I didn't know how, so I didn't feel one. That's when my disorder kicked in, and I was pulled into the past. I was in the crash with my parents. It seemed so real, and when it was over I thought Fabian was still dead, but he wasn't. It was just a sick joke. When he asked what happened, I actually found myself wanting to tell him. What does that mean? Am I getting worse? Am I subconsciously trying to sabotage myself?"

Dr. Jenks smiled kindly. "No, Nina. You're finally opening up. You're getting over your paranoia and antisocial personality disorder. I'm proud of you."

"No," I said with a hint of venom in my voice. "I can't be getting over this. I won't let myself get over it. I can't let myself get over it. If I tell them, it will be like my old school all over again. I don't know if that would be good or bad."

"Why would it be either? What happened at your old school?"

"They found out I went to a shrink and teased me about it. They didn't even know what was wrong with me. Everyone just assumed I was nuts. It would be bad if people here found out because I thought when I moved here that I could start over, make friends. But it would be good because I'm used to this. I'm used to teasing, and I'm not sure I know how to deal with people being nice."

"Nina, you shouldn't let yourself think like that. If you're doing better, then you should enjoy it, not question it."

The rest of the session passed a lot like that. Dr. Jenks tried to convince me that if I was getting better, then I shouldn't wait for the other shoe to drop. I couldn't make myself believe her. I was still waiting for the flip side.

* * *

When I got back to Anubis House, Amber was waiting at the door for me. I greeted her as politely as I could, but she wouldn't let me run off like I wanted. Instead, she made me follow her into the common room to hang out with her and Mara.

Mara asked me if I wanted help with the new project we had gotten in science, which was due Wednesday. I accepted her help with thanks, so we got started. She was shocked that I had only gotten halfway through, but after realizing that I had chosen a harder topic than most of the class, she decided that it was okay.

Once my project was done –which I thanked Mara several times for –I made an excuse to leave. I didn't want to overstay my welcome in the group that was forming in the common room. These people had known each other for years. I had just moved here, entered their lives unwanted. It wasn't right for me to butt in where I wasn't welcome.

I was on my way to my room when I heard it. I heard the quiet strumming of a guitar and the soft voice of a singer. It was coming from the attic, one of the places I constantly hid. Maybe a radio was left on or something, so I went to go check it out. I slowly opened the door and heard the music clearly for the first time.

It was amazing. The guitar playing was phenomenal, beautiful, and unforgettable. Then there was the voice. It was male, that much I could tell, and he sounded great. More than great, actually. He sounded like he was born to sing. I found myself wondering who it was. Was there even a radio up here? I could have sworn Trudy told me the only radio was downstairs in the common room, but what did I know?

When the song ended, I heard a sigh come from the other side of the room. I let out a shocked yelp as Fabian stood from my normal hiding place and slung his guitar over his shoulder. When he saw me, he blushed a shade of red that I hadn't known it was possible for a human to turn.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"A few minutes," I admitted. "Was that you playing? You sound amazing."

Fabian shook his head. "No, I'm not amazing. I just like playing."

"Fabian," I said in a slightly forceful tone. "You are great with a guitar and you were meant to sing. You shouldn't be in the attic when you play; you should be in front of people. They would love your music."

Fabian's blush deepened, something that no one would've believed possible. As I spoke, I wondered why I was encouraging him to come out of his shell when I wasn't willing to do so myself.

But it was different for me. Fabian was shy, but he was a good musician. I was nuts, but I acted normal. As we walked out of the attic together, Fabian smiled at me, and I wondered why there were butterflies in my stomach as I returned it.

* * *

**Okay, so this is slightly Fabina, but I was too excited to mention him singing. Besides, what good is a Fabina story without Fabina? Anyway, next chapter you'll see what really happened to Nina nine years ago on Halloween and how she feels about it. **

**I know this was two chapters in one day, but I had to share something with you guys and I didn't want to make an author's note chapter. I have finally figured out how Nina will tell everyone about her being schizophrenic! Here's a teaser for you guys, though I can promise that she won't tell until at least chapter twenty.**

"Nina," Joy said suddenly. "Why do you hide all the time? It's not like we're all horrible. Even I've gotten used to you."

I felt a strange force inside me, begging to tell her the truth. In fact, I needed to tell her. I didn't know why. I just did. Fabian caught my eye just as my mouth was opening to tell Joy, and I saw he had a worried frown. Why was he worried?

"Joy, the truth is -" I started, but Amber interrupted me.

"Nina, you don't have to tell anyone anything," she said sternly.

"No, Amber, I have to. Everyone deserves the truth, not just Joy."

I took a deep breath, willed Aria to stay quiet from her place at the back of the room, and spoke.

"I'm a scizophrenic."

**So, what do you think? Should I use that? If you don't think I should, can you suggest something? Please, and thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: After Patricia managed to get us out of Eddie's house, she volunteered to help us. Squeeeeeee! Now all we have to do is get back to the courthouse where they keep the papers . . . I still don't own House of Anubis, but until then, enjoy Chapter eight: The Truth About That Night.**

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Chapter eight: The Truth About That Night

_I've finally been able to pick up my pencil and write about that night. Halloween. It's not a happy day, not by a long shot, but I constantly try to hide it. Damn it, I should've just stayed in my room or the attic like I wanted, but Amber convinced me to go to the party. I thought this year might be different. This year I had friends. _

_ Wait a minute. I have friends? When did I decide that these people were my friends? I guess it must have been sometime in between when I started this journal and Halloween. But back to why I decided to write this._

_ I relive that night every year. I relive the night my parents died. I lied to everyone, telling them that I wasn't in the car, but I was. And it was my fault they died. I wouldn't shut up and I distracted my dad from the road. He pulled out too far and the car crashed into our van._

_ I can still hear the impact, even now. They say time heals all wounds, but not for me. Not when I don't deserve it. The darkness that comes every year and steals me back to that night is my punishment for what I did. But sometimes I wish that it wouldn't come. I wish I could be normal._

_ PTSD. That's what I've been told I have. I was diagnosed about five years ago, the first time my psychiatrist saw me after Halloween. Just my luck, right, to have my appointment the day after, my head still filled with that night._

_ This year it was worse, though. I was actually having fun, but it all changed when I heard the sounds of a crash from outside. At first I thought it was all in my head, but when everyone else reacted, I knew it was real. I was the first out of the house, the first to see the shards of glass scattered along the road._

_ I was the first to see Fabian and Jerome in the car._

_ I remember rushing over to them, trying to find a pulse. Unfortunately, I had never been able to find one, not even when Gran had me sign up for a nursing class –needless to say I had failed that class. I had honestly thought Fabian was dead. The thought of that was just too much, and the ghosts of my past gripped me tight and pulled me under._

_ I was sitting in the back of a pale green minivan, bouncing in my seat. I had a massive sugar rush on account of all the candy I had eaten. My parents had begged me to be quiet, but I couldn't. It was almost physically impossible. We came to a stop sign, but no one noticed that Dad pulled out a little too far._

_ No one noticed until the other car slammed into the front of our vehicle. _

_ I remember hearing the crash before anything. When my head stopped spinning from the impact, I looked at my parents, hoping they would say this was all just a joke. But they were dripping red from cuts on their body, their eyes closed. I remember thinking "Why were they red? Were they hurt?"_

_ My injuries caught up with me, the pain dulling my vision. My whole left side felt like it was on fire. I remember wondering why my leg was twisted like that. It wasn't supposed to bend that way. I blacked out just seconds after I heard the first siren._

_ When I came to, I was laying in a hospital bed, surrounded by doctors. One of them, an older woman, explained to me what happened. My parents were dead, killed by a drunk driver on Halloween night. I remember crying for hours, begging for them to tell me my parents were coming back, that they were lying to me._

_ Gran came the next day and explained everything. She said Mom and Dad were in a better place now, and that one day I'd be able to see them again. I made her promise that my parents were happy wherever they were, and she did. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe they were happy at first, but when they realized it was my fault that they were dead, they got angry at me._

_ Maybe reliving their death is their way of punishing me._

_ Dr. Jenks told me that it wasn't my fault and that my parents didn't cause my PTSD, but why else would I have to go through that every year? It's not just because it was traumatic, even thought it was, but it's like someone wants me to pay for what I did. And I do. Every single year._

_ So now you know. Now you know what really happened that Halloween night nine years ago. I'm sorry for the tear stains across the pages. This is just too sad not to cry over. I hope one day my parents can forgive me for what I did. I hope one day I can forgive myself for what I did. But until then, this is my life._

_ Whether I like it or not._

I bowed my head, trying not to let any more tears escape. Why did I think it was a good idea to write this? Ugh, I was an idiot for thinking that this might make me feel better. Even though Fabian and Jerome weren't dead, sometimes I still felt like they were. I knew it didn't make any sense to blame myself for something that didn't even happen, but I found myself blaming me for the crash.

Would I ever get over this?

* * *

** What did you think of an almost-whole diary chapter? There might be a few more throughout the story, but not many. Next chapter a shopping trip ends up turning horribly wrong and someone gets very annoying. **

**There's something that a few people have mentioned in their reviews that I want to address: Where is Eddie? Well, the truth i Eddie isn't in this story, and he won't be. This sort of takes place in season one, and Eddie didn't show up until season two. But, just for the Eddie fans out there, I'm considering writing a sequel called Mentally Divided that stars Eddie. What do you think? ****Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Amber bailed on us! She decided not to steal the papers after all, so she went back to Anubis House. At least Patricia was there to help Jerome and me. We disguised ourselves as Harry Potter characters to throw off the suspicion, but we didn't make it past the front door. Eddie had alerted Fabian about our attempts, so he was waiting on us. Jerome tried to cast a spell on him with his fake wand, which didn't work. Now we're stuck in a Harry Potter look-alike contest that Fabian made us sign up for. I don't own House of Anubis, but until we can get out of this, enjoy Chapter nine: Now You See Me.**

* * *

Chapter nine: Now You See Me

Later that month, sometime around the thirteenth, Amber had somehow convinced me to go shopping after school on Friday. She wouldn't let me do a single thing by myself until I agreed. Though the only reason I agreed to go so quickly was because I didn't want to see if she'd follow me to the bathroom.

When we got into town, Amber told me that I wasn't allowed to pay for anything. She was going to buy whatever I got. Once she told me that, I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to get anything. Amber didn't need to spend any money on me.

Aria showed up while we were inside a high-end department store. Amber had seen a jacket in one of their magazines that she wanted, so we were looking for it. Aria skipped around, looking at the racks until she came to one that had a few shirts hanging off of it.

"This one looks nice," she commented, brushing her fingers against a teal shirt. I rolled my eyes, but went to go look at it anyway. She had been right. It was nice. I showed Amber, who immediately made me go try it on.

"Oh my gosh, you look amazing!" she said as I came out of the dressing room. I wasn't so sure about that. I could admit that I looked okay, but amazing? I had never looked amazing. The shirt had a dark blue ribbon along the middle, cinching in the waist, and the straps were the same color.

"Thanks, Amber," I said shyly. What if she thought I should get it? I would feel guilty if she bought it for me. No one needed to do anything for me. I was fine on my own. I ducked back into the changing room and put on my clothes, hoping Amber would let me put the shirt back on the rack.

"Here, give me that," Amber told me as I stepped out. I handed the bundle of fabric over to her, wondering what she was going to do. She smirked as she took the shirt and dashed to the checkout line. I protested as she paid for the shirt, along with the jacket she had found. Aria sneered at my pitiful attempts at stopping Amber, but I ignored her.

Amber bought the shirt and handed me the bag, ignoring my protests. We walked out of the store and went to dinner in an adorable little café. She thought it would be a good idea to have dinner without the rest of Anubis House around us. I tried to tell her I could cook when we got back, but Amber wouldn't have it.

When the waiter came for our order, I got the cheapest thing on the menu –a salad and water –so Amber didn't have to pay a lot for my meal. She shouldn't have brought me here in the first place. Amber glared at me after the waiter left.

"Nins, I trying to be nice, but when you keep shooting down all my attempts, it makes it kind of hard, you know?" she said in a soft but firm voice.

I nodded in understanding. This kind of reaction I was used to. I knew how to deal with it. "Sorry, Amber. It won't happen again."

"Why are you apologizing?!" Amber demanded. "Don't apologize, Nina. You need to grow a backbone or something."

I sighed, but left it alone. She was an unstoppable force. After dinner was done, Aria showing up while we were having a desert that I didn't want, we left and Amber somehow managed to get a cab. I guess it had to do with the fact that she was a pretty blonde with a slim figure.

Once we were back at Anubis House, I thanked Amber for the shopping trip and made an excuse to leave. There was too much cheer in the air, and I knew something was going to happen to change that. I couldn't have been more right.

Joy was standing in front of her door with Patricia and, for some reason, both of them were glaring at me. Why were they looking at me like that? What had I done to them?

"Nina, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be out," Joy said, glaring daggers at me.

"Um, I live here," I told her. "Amber and I just got back from shopping. It didn't take long for her to find the jacket she wanted. Anyway, can I go to my room now?"

Patricia smiled at me, but I could tell it was forced. "Sure thing. Go ahead."

I dashed past the two girls and into my room, where I closed the door. When I sat down on my bed, Aria came flying out of the closet. I gritted my teeth, but ignored her constant chatter.

"Come on Nina! Just listen to them! You don't have to tell anyone what you hear. Please? For me?" Aria begged.

When I didn't respond, she started really annoying me. She'd pop up out of nowhere, laughing and trying to get me to talk. Once that didn't work, she tried playing another game.

"Now you see me," she said, standing in front of me.

"Now you don't!" she called, diving into my closet. She'd then reappear under my bed and pop out, calling "Now you see me" and repeat the whole thing.

Sometimes I was envious of her. She could disappear from reality whenever she wanted. I was stuck here forever with my secret that no one could ever know. I wish that there was just one person who would understand and not treat me like a freak if they found out, but there was no one I trusted.

Aria kept annoying me until I was tempted to tell her to shut up. The second the though crossed my mind, I felt the blood drain from my face. I wanted to talk to Aria? After three years of silence between us?

In order to ignore her, I went to the mirror and tried to figure out how Amber did my hair. How had she gotten it to behave? Aria was behind me, making comments about everything and anything, but she didn't show up in the mirror. I had no idea how that worked, but it did. Aria had never shown up in the mirror to me.

She sang at the top of her voice and restarted that Now You See Me game, but no matter what she did, I never said a word. Even when I really wanted to tell her off, I never said a word. She ticked me off so much that I was about to scream, but I held myself back. Why did she want to tick me off so much? What had I done to her? Nothing. I couldn't do anything to her. She wasn't real, and I couldn't forget that.

Someone knocked on the door, so I got up and answered it. Strangely enough, Fabian was standing in front of me, his hand raised to knock on the door again.

"Oh, hey Nina," he said, lowering his hand. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," I told him, stepping away from the door. Fabian walked in and stood in front of me. Just as I was starting to think this was awkward, he spoke up.

"So, I was wondering why you never seem to hang out with the rest of us," he said. "Amber has to force you to come out of the room or the attic. We're not horrible people. Not too insane."

A part of me knew he was joking, but a larger part of me was wondering if they were actually crazy. Alfie could definitely be paranoid, and Joy or Patricia could suffer from anger issues. Amber probably suffered from ADHD, and Jerome might be a klepto. Mick and Fabian, however, didn't seem like they would be insane. Maybe they just hid it better. It took me a while to realize Fabian was talking to me.

"Nina? Um, I didn't mean we were actually insane, you know. It's just some of us, mainly Alfie and Jerome, seem odd most of the time. Sorry."

I shook my head. "It's no problem. I didn't think you guys were actually crazy. That would be dumb. But if you were, what would you have? You don't seem that odd to me."

Fabian laughed. "Um, probably schizophrenia. I talk to myself a lot, so talking to someone in my head wouldn't be that far off."

"Really?"

He would have one of my problems? The problem that plagued me the most? Why would he say that would be his problem? This was way too odd for me to understand.

"Nina? Are you okay? You spaced out again," Fabian said, grabbing my attention again.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. How about you? Are you okay?"

Fabian smiled. "Yeah. I'm good. How about we go downstairs and talk with everyone else? I'm going to get you to talk to everyone in Anubis House willingly, without anyone telling you to, by the end of the year. Come on, let's go."

He grabbed my wrist and tugged me out the door and down the hall. One thought ran through my mind as we walked down to the common room.

_Why did I have butterflies in my stomach again?_

* * *

**Aw! Another almost-Fabina moment! Yeah, I said there wasn't going to be any hand holding or anything until chapter ten or further –probably further –but if you paid attention, he grabbed her wrist! Anyway, next chapter Aria gets creative, Nina almost cracks, and a slight Jabian moment happens. . . I know, I'm cruel. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: We won the Harry Potter look-alike contest. Patricia was Hermione, Jerome was Malfoy, and I was Ginny. We were ready to go back to the court house, but Fabian wanted us to go to another Harry Potter contest. After sneaking away from him, we managed to ditch the robes and sneak into a school trip that was going to the courthouse where they kept the House of Anubis papers. We were so close! I still don't own House of Anubis, but until I do, enjoy Chapter ten: Do You Hear That.**

* * *

Chapter ten: Do You Hear That

The next day, I was sitting in the attic, thinking about what Fabian had said the day before. Why did he want me to willingly talk to everyone in Anubis House? I knew they weren't terrible people, and I knew that to most everyone else they were great friends, but what if I accidentally let my problem slip out? What if they found out the truth?

I thought about how the residents might react. It was odd, actually. I believed that Amber might not care all that much –the girl was nearly psychotic herself sometimes –but the others were a tossup. Mara might not think anything of it, just feel pity for me. Alfie would probably make jokes about my condition, either to hurt me or to lift my spirits, and Jerome would probably do the same. Mick would probably be the same as Mara.

Patricia and Joy were another matter. For some reason, they didn't seem to like me. I didn't know what I did to offend them, but it seemed that they almost hated me. If they found out, it would probably result in what happened at my last school: teasing, insults, and shoving. I really didn't want them to find out.

Then there was Fabian. I honestly had no idea how he would react if he found out about Aria. Maybe he would act like I thought Mara might, with pity. Or maybe he would act like I thought Amber would, not really caring that I had a problem. But maybe he would react like I knew Joy and Patricia would act, with abhorrence and spite. Fabian was the unknown wild-card in the equation of Anubis House. Since he kept to himself nearly as much as I did, it was impossible to tell just how he would react.

I sighed, letting my head hit the wall behind me. I had to redirect my thoughts away from the puzzling enigma of the Anubis residents. My thoughts drifted through several topics, not staying on one for more than a minute.

* * *

I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep until a really loud noise woke me up. It sounded like a car alarm, but there were no cars near Anubis House. Victor and Trudy didn't drive; they took cabs to where they needed to go. Maybe someone had broken down outside of the house? I got up, going to investigate.

When I opened the creaky attic door, the car alarm stopped. Confusion swept through me, followed closely by realization. Whoever it was must have fixed their car. Still, I went downstairs, wanting to see if anyone saw who had broken down in front of the house.

Fabian, Jerome, and Joy were in the common room. Fabian and Joy were sitting beside each other, working on homework. Well, Fabian was working on homework. Joy was obviously trying to flirt with him, but Fabian was so engrossed with his homework that he wasn't taking any notice. Eventually Jerome noticed Joy's attempts at flirting with Fabian and groaned loudly.

"Would you cut it out, Joy?!" Jerome demanded. "Fabian doesn't like you! Just work on your damn homework!"

Joy blushed a really deep shade of red at Jerome's words. Fabian, who had been completely oblivious to Joy before this, looked from his homework to Joy and Jerome, confusion playing across his face.

"Um," he said, scooting away from Joy.

She glared at Jerome for acknowledging it. I took that as my cue to take a seat. Thankfully, none of them had seen me standing by the doorway. As I sat down, Fabian saw me and sent a small smile my way. Without pause, I asked my question.

"Did any of you guys see whose car was outside?" I asked.

Everyone in the room narrowed their eyes in confusion. What had I said? Jerome turned to look out the window, still confused by my words. Seriously, what had I said?

"There's no one out there," he told me.

"Not now," I said. "They were outside a little while ago. The car alarm woke me up."

"There wasn't a car alarm," Fabian said.

"It might have been Alfie messing with his noise makers again," Jerome suggested.

Before I could say anything, the car alarm sounded again, louder than the previous one. I whipped my head to look outside, trying to see the car. Strangely, there wasn't one. The alarm kept sounding, but now it sounded like it was coming from upstairs. I stood up, going to investigate.

Fabian stood up and followed me out of the common room. We walked up the stairs, and I heard the alarm getting louder and louder. Where was it coming from? It sounded like it might have been coming from my room, so I opened the door, scaring the crap out of Amber.

"Oh my gosh!" she yelled, throwing a hairbrush at me. I squeaked in surprise and ducked, leaving Fabian wide open for the hit. The pink plastic hairbrush hit him right in the face.

"OW!" he said, clasping a hand to his face. "What was that for?"

"Sorry!" Amber apologized. "You scared me. Why are you guys in here, anyway?"

"I'm following her," Fabian said, pointing to me. I was looking around, trying to figure out where that stupid alarm was coming from. Ugh, it was getting louder! It almost hurt my ears.

"Nina, what are you looking for?"

I turned my head to look at the two others in the room. "Are you two deaf?" I asked. "Do you not hear that?"

"Hear what?" Amber asked, reaching down to pick up her brush off the floor.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, now you're just messing with me. You seriously cannot tell me that you don't hear that alarm."

"What alarm?" Fabian asked. "Nina, what's going on?"

Just as I was about to accuse them of messing with me again, Aria walked into the room and smirked at me before she opened her mouth, a loud car alarm sound coming out. Oh, crap.

"Um, nothing?" I tried hopefully. "It's nothing. I was, uh, just kidding?"

Both Amber and Fabian looked at me like I was crazy, adding to my sudden urge to flee. Crap, crap, crap. Aria had tricked me. They were going to find out. Oh god, they were going to find out and then they'd get mad and–

"Not the best prank," Fabian said, interrupting my thoughts. "Maybe you should ask Alfie or Jerome for help next time."

"Yeah, massive fail," Amber added.

I let out a sigh of relief. They hadn't figured it out. They just thought that I was trying to prank them. I said something about going to the two pranksters next time I wanted to prank someone and quickly made my retreat. That had been close. When I was safely tucked away in my hiding spot in the attic, I pulled one of the blankets I had snitched around me, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Obviously Aria was getting creative. Really, a car alarm? That was beyond confusing, even for me. And why would she even do that? Why would she sound like a car alarm? It made no sense.

I sighed, looking around at my little space. It was almost like a bird's nest. I had a few blankets wrapped up in a circle, a few pillows dotting the three-foot-by-three-foot space. It wasn't much, but over the last month and a half, this had become my space. I had even spent the night up here once or twice before. No one would think anything of it if I spent another night in the attic.

I closed my eyes and rested my head against the wall. At least the next day was Saturday and I could stay up here as long as I liked. As my breathing slowed, I sank into the warm embrace of sleep.

* * *

Something large and warm was beside me, sitting comfortably next to me. My head was resting on something hard and cold, though, probably a box or something. I really needed to clean up the attic sometime soon. I heard a soft sigh come from somewhere, but I assumed it was in my dream.

When I realized I couldn't fall back asleep, I opened my eyes slowly. The dim light from the attic window shone right in my face, blinding me for a second. I raised my head, taking in the scene around me.

Oh crap.

I was in the attic, obviously, tucked under some blankets. In front of me was none other than Fabian Rutter, who was staring at me with curiosity. I scrambled away, almost hitting my head on the wall.

"Are you okay?" Fabian asked with slight confusion and hint of worry on his face.

I nodded, not sure why he was up here.

"Sorry if I scared you," he apologized. "I just, well, I'm not sure."

"Why did you come up here?" I asked, finally finding my voice. "_When_ did you come up here?"

"Um, I came up here because Amber mentioned that you weren't in the room you two share last night and I got a little worried," Fabian said, a red flush spreading across his face. "You were asleep, so I, um, tried to figure out if you were okay and I just wanted to see if you were okay. Sorry."

"It's okay," I said after I considered it for a second. "No harm done, right?" Fabian smiled slightly at that. After a minute or so, Fabian made some sort of comment about how the others would be wondering where we were.

We stood up and walked out of the attic together, the door closing silently behind us. Fabian grasped my hand as we walked down the hall and squeezed my palm once before letting go and walking away, leaving me standing in front of the door, stunned.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. What had that been for? Confusion in the front of my mind, I opened my bedroom door and walked in to see none other than Amber Millington standing in front of me, a sly smile on her face.

"Good morning," she chirped, tossing me a bundle of cloth. I caught it instinctually, turning it over in my hands to realize that it was some of my clothes. What?

"So," Amber continued, "what happened last night? Did you sleep in the attic?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. Why?"

Amber smiled her cunning smile again before she answered. "Fabian went to go see if you were okay."

"Yeah, I noticed that when I woke up," I said, thinking nothing of it. "I was completely passed out, so I didn't notice him until I woke up. Nothing happened, really." I turned to leave the room and head to the bathroom when Amber's next words froze me in my tracks.

"I know nothing happened. You and Fabian are too shy to do anything. But has he told you he likes you yet?"

I slowly turned around to face Amber. "What?"

Amber grinned. "Oh come on, Nina! It's so obvious he likes you. He looks at you like you're the only one in the room and he smiles whenever you talk to him. Heck, I'm one of his best friends and Fabian wouldn't go up to the attic, risking the wrath of Victor, just so he could make sure I was okay, even though he knew I'd be fine."

I shook my head. "No, Fabian's just a friend. Trust me, he doesn't like me that way. I think I'd know."

But would I? Would I really know if anyone liked me that way? I ignored Amber's rambling and dashed out of the room, heading to the bathroom. I really didn't want to talk to anyone for a while, not after everything that Amber said.

* * *

After I showered, changed my clothes, and did all the other things people normally do in the morning, I left the bathroom. I'd been a little ticked off when I saw the outfit Amber had thrown at me this morning –a pair of jeans and a tight-ish shirt –but I had to wear it. I wasn't going to run back to my room in nothing but a towel; that would've been too embarrassing.

I made my way downstairs, where everyone else was hanging out. No one noticed me claim a seat at the dinner table, seeing as they were all playing Truth-or-Dare in the common room. Thank God Amber didn't notice me; otherwise I would've had to play. I had come to really dislike Truth-or-Dare. I started watching them play, wondering absentmindedly who would get embarrassed this time.

"Okay," Jerome said, aiming a glance at Joy. "Joy, truth or dare?"

Joy considered it. "Truth."

Jerome smirked. "Is it true that you like Fabian?"

Fabian immediately inched away from Joy, who was glaring at Jerome. "Yms," she mumbled, though we could all figure out what she meant. Yes, Joy liked Fabian. I tried to ignore the strange feeling it gave me, like a tiny shard of ice in my heart.

After several more rounds of the game, people admitting things that they never should have and others being made to do things that no one should ever have to do, the group quickly dissolved into chatter. I struck up a conversation with Mara, who was more than glad to ignore what Joy had said during the game. It seemed that nothing could put a damper on my high spirits that morning, not even other people's embarrassment.

Naturally, I couldn't have been more wrong.

* * *

**I know, I know; you hate me, right? Maybe you can forgive me enough to review? You can yell at me if you want. Just don't be too mean, okay? You'll also notice that I lied about the Jabian moment (well, she did flirt with him, but that was more a one-sided Jabian moment). Next chapter there'll be the reveal of what caused the cliffhanger and a lot of blood (try to figure that one out, heehee). Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: We weren't able to get into the section of the courthouse where they kept the papers. Patricia started complaining that this was taking too long and decided to make Eddie help, while Jerome volunteered to get Alfie to help. Now we're waiting to see if Alfie or Eddie will help us out. Waiting sucks. Big time. I still don't own House of Anubis, but until someone decides to help out, enjoy Chapter eleven: What's Fabina.**

* * *

Chapter eleven: What's Fabina

After Mara and I talked for a while, maybe thirty minutes at the most, she left to go talk to Mick. I think they were dating, but I hadn't been around them enough to be sure. They balanced each other out at least. I had heard someone refer to Mara as the 'Biology Babe' once, which probably came from the fact that her best subject was, in fact, biology. I didn't know much about Mick, but I knew he was pretty good at soccer –sorry, football.

When Mara left, I started wandering around the house. Even though it was the middle of November, I hadn't really walked around the house enough to know what was what here. I knew that Fabian and Mick shared one of the rooms, Alfie and Jerome the other, and that the third door was for the bathroom, but I didn't know which door was which.

I soon found out that the bathroom was the door at the far end of the hall and Fabian and Mick's room was the one closest to the stairs. I only knew that because Mick's soccer –football –trophies were stacked on some shelves on one side of the room, and a poster of a chemistry beaker was hanging on the other side of the room. Jerome and Alfie's room was the one in the middle.

After I knew just which doors were which on the lower level of the house, I decided to snoop around outside. About ten minutes later I found out that there was nothing but trees, trees, and –oh yeah –more TREES. There were some patches of grass that would make cute picnic spots, though, and I really wanted to see if I could climb the tree that was almost the same height as the school. Mostly, though, I just wanted to go back to Anubis House.

As soon as I was about to open the door, it opened seemingly by itself, scaring the crap out of me. I calmed down a little bit, though, when I saw it was only Fabian on the other side of the door. When he saw me, a small smile played across his face.

"Oh, hey Nina," he said, opening the door wide enough for me to walk in. "I was just coming to look for you."

"You were?" I said as I walked inside. Fabian nodded as we walked to the common room.

"Yeah."

We sat down on the couch and just started talking. Now that it had been pointed out to me, I saw that Amber had been right; Fabian _did_ smile when I talked to him. It was weird to say the least. While we were talking, Aria showed up and started chatting away inches from my ear, making it hard to hear Fabian.

"Sorry," I said after the fifth time I failed to hear what he was saying. "My hearing's messed up today, for some reason."

Fabian tilted his head in confusion. "I wonder why?"

"I don't know," I said, though it was a lie. I was getting better at this lying thing. Fortunately, Aria shut up after that so Fabian and I could actually talk. Unfortunately, Amber chose that moment to walk in.

"Yay!" she squealed. "Fabina!"

Fabian and I looked at each other, then back at Amber. "Do you mean 'Fabian'?" I asked.

Amber shook her head. "Nope, I mean Fabina."

"Amber, what's Fabina?" Fabian asked, looking at the excited blonde with annoyance.

Amber sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Fabian and Nina, obviously. You two need a couple name."

"What?!" I shrieked, scaring both Fabian and Amber. Aria just smirked at me. "No, no, no. We don't need a couple name because we're not a couple."

Amber smirked. "For now," she said before walking down the hall.

Instead of staying in the room with Fabian, I decided to leave. It would probably be really awkward if I stayed. So I quickly made my way up to the attic, Aria following like a freakin puppy.

"Oh my gosh!" she said when I sat down. "You two are so adorkable. You know, because he's a dork."

I actually found myself listening to her, though I didn't talk back. How had I forgotten that Aria was so odd? It wasn't like she didn't talk to me every single day.

"Anyway," Aria said, sitting down in front of me. "Amber's right, you know. You and he should really consider becoming Fabina. You deserve someone in your life besides me. Not that I'm encouraging you to leave me alone, because I'd really like to talk to you and have you talk back, but still. Just give him a chance, Nina. Or I'll have to prove to you just how much you really like him."

The way she said that last part made me shudder. She sounded so evil. What could she possibly do? She wasn't real. I sighed, not knowing why I had this sinking feeling that Aria could and would deliver on her threat.

What would she do?

* * *

No one came and bothered me for hours, and I was left alone for so long that I was starting to wish _someone_ would come. It was weird; normally I liked being alone, but now I was edging away from it.

Anubis House was really changing me.

When I finally had enough of being alone –something that never would have happened had I been in my old house with Gran –I got up and walked out of the attic. Trudy was the only one in the house, strangely enough. There was normally always someone in Anubis House.

"Oh, hello dearie," Trudy said when she saw me. "I thought you'd be out with the rest of the residents. They went to town."

"Oh," I said. So that's where they were. "Um, I must not have gotten the invite. I was in the attic."

"Well, I could use some help in the kitchen," Trudy said. "If you'd like."

I smiled. "Sure."

It turned out that Trudy was making dinner for when the others got back. They were supposed to be back within an hour from now, so we had a lot to do. I helped Trudy make spaghetti, garlic bread, and a chocolate cake for dessert. It took about an hour and a half to make everything, by which point Trudy was worried about where the other residents were and why they were late. I told her they were probably just having fun and forgot about the time.

When Trudy and I were just setting the food on the table, the other residents of Anubis House were just walking in the door. Alfie and Jerome were playfully shoving each other and messing around, Patricia and Joy were talking, Amber was trying to balance all of her shopping bags, Mick and Mara were discussing the upcoming 'football' game, and Fabian walked in last, looking around for something.

"Hey," he said when he saw me. "Why didn't you come with us?"

I tilted my head in confusion. "I didn't know you guys were leaving."

"What? I thought Joy told you we were going to town. Joy," Fabian called out, getting the girl's attention, "didn't you tell Nina about us all going to town?"

Joy looked at Fabian. "Sorry, I must have forgotten about it. I thought you were telling her."

"I was going to, but you were adamant about doing it yourself."

Joy rolled her eyes. "Well, it was an accident. You can tell her next time."

"Hey, I might not have gone with you guys, but I am in the room," I said, cutting into their conversation. "And it's not polite to talk about me like I'm not here."

Fabian ducked his head in embarrassment while Joy looked at me with curiosity. "Sorry," Fabian said.

"It's okay. Now come on, Trudy and I worked on dinner for the last hour and a half," I said, trying to get everyone to sit down. Thankfully they did, taking their seats around the table. I sat down beside Amber and Fabian, wondering where they had gone and why Joy hadn't bothered to tell me about it. It shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did; I was used to being left out.

All throughout dinner, Amber, Fabian, and I talked. I was actually happy that they were talking to me; I was sick of being alone. Even though they didn't know why I was opening up, they knew that something was different. Unfortunately, Alfie decided that instead of eating he was going to start a food fight.

"FOOD FIGHT!" he cried, flinging a spoonful of his dinner at Patricia. She shrieked and retaliated by throwing some of her dinner at him. But it didn't hit Alfie. Instead, it hit Jerome.

"Oh, it's on!" he yelled, throwing his spaghetti at Patricia. But it landed on Mick, who hadn't been paying attention to anything that had happened.

The food fight went on for several minutes, everyone getting some noodles or bread thrown on them. Someone –probably Patricia –went as far as to throw a glass of water on me. I wasn't offended at all; I was having too much fun. Even Fabian and Amber joined in, but Amber was a little too dainty for a food fight. She was more of a pillow fight girl. When I accidentally hit her with some cake, she screamed and tried to get it off.

"Ew, ew, ew, ew!" she said, frantically trying to get the cake off.

I laughed, even though it earned me a glare from Amber. Fabian laughed, too. God, Amber was funny. But everyone's laughter died out when Victor came into the room and saw the mess.

"What is the meaning of this?" he boomed.

We all looked at each other, not wanting to admit what happened. Victor glared at each and every one of us until Trudy walked in and gasped.

"What happened?" she asked.

Alfie grinned, but everyone stayed silent and still. Victor turned his glare to Alfie and walked up to him, using his tall and imposing figure to his advantage.

"Mr. Lewis," Victor intoned. "Were you the cause of this mess?"

"Well you see–" Alfie began before he was cut off.

"Toilet duty for a week, Mr. Lewis," Victor said, handing Alfie –of all things –a toothbrush. Alfie hung his head as he stuck the toothbrush in his back pocket. "As for you, Ms. Martin," Victor continued, shocking me. What had I done? "You need to stay out of the attic for the next two weeks. It is being fixed and cleaned, and we cannot do that with a student lurking around."

I nodded, what he said still reeling in my mind. Just when I had decided to _come out_ of my hiding place I wasn't allowed to _go to_ my hiding place? What a coincidence. The thing was, I didn't believe in coincidence.

After Victor left and Trudy shooed us away so she could start cleaning, Fabian and I went to talk. Apparently he wanted to show me a spot on the grounds, so after everyone got cleaned up, we left.

Imagine my surprise when Fabian took me to the tree I had wanted to climb and beckoned me forward. We climbed about halfway up the tree until both Fabian and I were getting tired. As we both found a place to sit, Fabian turned to me and smiled.

"So, I suppose I should've asked if you were afraid of heights," he said sheepishly.

I laughed. "No, I'm not afraid of heights. There's not a lot I'm afraid of." _Being found out is really the only thing I'm afraid of_, I thought to myself.

"Oh, okay," Fabian said cheerfully. We chatted for a while, talking about everything from Anubis House to the bird that came close to us. Nothing bad or horrible happened, much to my delight. Maybe Aria wouldn't deliver on her threat after all.

* * *

As the sun started to set, Fabian and I made our way back down the tree. The view from the tree had been amazing, but I was glad to have my feet back on solid ground. On our way back to Anubis House, I figured out that Aria was much more cunning than I gave her credit for.

Fabian kept chatting, telling me about his little sister and their dog when it happened. At first I didn't think anything of it, assuming Fabian just had a nosebleed. But when he turned to me, I screamed.

"What's wrong?" he asked, reaching out to out a hand on my arm. I backed away, though I knew I should've helped him out somehow.

Fabian was bleeding. Bleeding a lot.

His nose was bleeding, his eyes, he was even bleeding from his mouth. Red dripped onto his shirt, staining it crimson. I staggered back, not knowing how to deal with this horror show.

"Nina, what's wrong?" Fabian asked again, his tone the one people use when trying to calm down a scared animal.

In response, I pointed a shaking finger at him. How could he not know he was bleeding? Fabian looked down at himself, confusion plain on his face.

"Nina, there's nothing wrong with me. Are you okay?"

Just as I was about to stammer out what I saw, the bleeding stopped. All the blood vanished, leaving no trace. Aria walked up behind us, a smug look on her face.

"I told you so," she chirped. "I knew you liked him!"

"Shit," I hissed under my breath. Fabian looked at me, worried and confused.

"Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, I'm fine," I said, my heart still racing.

"No, you're not. You just screamed," Fabian said, reaching out and taking my hand. I tried to pull away, but he held tight. "Nina, what happened?"

"I can't," I said, shaking my head. I couldn't tell him.

"Can't what?"

"I can't tell you what happened," I whispered, my head hanging low.

"Nina, you can tell me anything. You can trust me."

I shook my head. "The last time someone found out, I was treated horribly. I can't go through that again, Fabian. I can't."

"Hey," he said gently, "I wouldn't do that. You know me Nina. I could never hurt you."

A small laugh escaped before I could stop it. God, he was too funny. "Fabian, you're a really sweet guy, but my secret can destroy me. I can't tell you."

"How can a secret destroy you?" Fabian was honestly confused.

"Trust me, there are a lot of secrets can destroy people. I hate my secret, I wish I could just tear it out of my life, but it's always going to be with me. And you don't need the weight of my terror on your shoulders."

He let out a deep sigh before saying anything. "Nina, I'm not going to pressure you into telling me, but if you ever decide that you want someone to help you, then I'll be here. If you ever want to talk, I'll be here. If you need a friend, I'll be here. Just remember that, okay?"

I gave a small, sad smile as we walked up to the front door of Anubis House. Fabian opened the door for me, letting me walk in before him. I tilted my head in thanks, but didn't say anything. As soon as I got inside, I dashed up the stairs and went to my room.

I sat down on my bed and pulled a pillow to my chest. Why was this happening to me? Why couldn't this be happening to someone else? I had never wished my curse on anyone else before, but I just couldn't deal anymore.

I sobbed into my pillow. I couldn't keep this to myself anymore. I couldn't do it. I wiped my tears away with one hand and reached under my bed for my journal with the other. Maybe writing would help me out. It was worth a try.

_I can't take it anymore. My secret is killing me. Aria will stop at nothing to make my life a living hell. Fabian is trying to figure out the truth, I've found myself wanting to be around people, and my life is falling apart._

_Should I tell Fabian? He said I could trust him, but can I? Can I trust him not to push me away after he realizes just how crazy I really am? I know that he thinks that he can help me, but it won't work. Maybe telling someone would help me, but I can't be sure. _

_Then again, Fabian has been nothing but nice to me. It's strange, actually, since no one but Gran has ever truly been nice to me. But now that I've moved to Anubis House, there're two people that seem to care: Amber and Fabian. Neither seems to hate me; in fact Amber swears up and down that Fabian likes me. I don't think he does, though. Who would like a psycho? No one, that's who._

_Should I tell anyone what's happening? I'm not sure what to think. Maybe they would understand. Or maybe they would chase me away. What about Amber or Fabian? Would they understand what's going on? Maybe, maybe not. I guess you never can tell until the truth comes out._

I hid my book back under my mattress for only a minute before pulling it back out. I knew what I was going to do.

Fabian was going to find out the truth.

* * *

**Ooh, so Fabina is getting closer! And Fabian is going to learn the truth about Nina! Care to take a guess at how he finds out? I know Nina and Fabian might be getting close too fast, but I couldn't think of how else to push the story forward. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Alfie agreed to help us, but Eddie refused. It's odd, actually, seeing as Eddie is the sneaky American rebel, but none of us can force him to help. Now that Alfie is coming, we just have to wait a week until he arrives. Apparently Amber has him working on something back at Anubis House that he can't get away from for a few days. Patricia managed to charm a floor plan of the courthouse from one of the workers, so we have part of our master plan with us. Now we just need the ninja skills of Alfie Lewis to get the papers for House of Anubis. I still don't own House of Anubis, but until Alfie gets here, enjoy Chapter twelve: The Truth Comes Out.**

* * *

Chapter twelve: The Truth Comes Out

I got up from my seat on my bed, grasped my journal tightly in my hand, and made my way out of my room. How was I going to do this? Just hand Fabian my journal and hope he understands? I knew I'd written one entry that explained the whole truth, but would he believe me?

I had to try.

I walked down the stairs to find Fabian talking to Amber. Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, I started to walk away when I heard Amber say my name. Now I was curious.

"So Nina just freaked?" Amber asked.

"Not exactly," Fabian said. "She shrieked and back up, like you do when you see a spider.

"Hey, spiders are deadly," Amber protested.

"Not any of the ones around here," Fabian said in a lighthearted tone. "But when I asked her what was wrong, she pointed at me. I told her that nothing was wrong with me and asked her again what was the matter, and she said that nothing was wrong. Then she said something about a secret that could destroy her. Do you know what it is?"

"No," Amber said. "She hasn't even mentioned a secret to me. Why does she trust you more than she trusts me?"

"I don't know," Fabian said. "Maybe you can find out what's going on?"

"No," Amber said, startling me. "I'm not prying into her personal life. It's too rude."

_Thank you Amber_, I wanted to say, but I couldn't if I wanted to remain hidden. I listened for a little while longer until I couldn't listen anymore. With my journal still in hand, I walked back upstairs. When I was safely back in my room, I rummaged around until I found what I was looking for. I scribbled a note on the sticky note I found and stuck it on the cover of my purple journal. I hoped that this would work. If not, I wasn't sure I'd survive it.

I slowly made my way back down the stairs and into Fabian's bedroom. No one was in there; Fabian was still in the common room with Amber and Mick was outside playing football. As silently as I could, I set the notebook down in the middle of Fabian's bed, the bright yellow sticky note in the dead center of the book.

_Here's the truth_

I hoped he understood.

* * *

Around eleven that night, Amber and I were just getting ready for bed when a knock sounded on the door. Amber looked at me curiously before opening the door. Fabian was standing on the other side, my journal clutched in one hand and the other raised to knock on the door again.

He looked from Amber to me, an unspoken question written on his face. She stepped back, letting him come inside. After we both looked at Amber for a few seconds, she took the hint.

"Oh, I'll um, be in the bathroom," she said, hastily making a retreat.

I would've laughed if Fabian hadn't been standing there with my journal in his hands. He came over and sat down beside me, handing me my journal.

"Thanks," I said, slipping the book under my mattress. "So I guess you read it, huh?"

"Yeah," Fabian said softly.

"So go ahead," I whispered. "Tell me I'm crazy and that you never want to talk to me again. It's fine."

Fabian looked puzzled. "What? Why would I do that?"

"Because it's the truth, isn't it? You think I'm crazy."

"Nina," Fabian said in a kindhearted tone. "You are not insane. So what if you see someone that isn't there? You're still human, and everyone –whether they admit it or not –is delusional about something. Take Alfie for example. Do you think he's insane?"

"No," I said slowly, not understanding where this was going.

Fabian smiled. "Well, would you change your mind if I told you that he thinks he's seen an alien?"

"No, people can believe in things that aren't real. It's their choice."

Fabian's smile grew. "Then why do you automatically assume that people would think you're mad?"

I sighed. I had been expecting this. "I've been told for years that there is something wrong with me. I've been told by people at my school, by my doctors, and by Aria. When everyone keeps saying that there's something wrong, why shouldn't I believe that I'm crazy?"

"Your doctor told you there was something wrong with you?" Fabian sounded horrified.

"Well, not in so many words," I admitted. "But Dr. Rosen, my old psychiatrist, told me that there was a problem with my mind. To me, that sounds like there's something wrong with me."

"Nina, there's nothing wrong with you," Fabian said.

Before I could say anything, either to correct him or agree I wasn't sure, Aria walked in the room. "Yeah Nina, there's nothing wrong with you. Hey, tell him you see me right now and maybe he'll give you a hug."

I ignored her. Why couldn't she just leave me alone? Fabian saw that I was looking toward the wall and looked there too. He tilted his head in confusion when he didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Is she here?" he asked, turning his attention to me.

"Yeah, she's right there," I said, pointing to her.

"Hey, don't look at her," Fabian said. "Turn this way."

I turned to look at him and saw that he was staring at me intently. I stared back curiously, wondering what he was thinking.

"So, what does she look like?" Fabian asked suddenly.

"What?" That's not what I had been expecting him to say.

"What does Aria look like?" Fabian asked again.

Wondering why he wanted to know, I told him. "Um, she's a bit taller than I am, with red-brown hair just past her shoulders and intense caramel eyes. She's a little paler than Patricia, but not too pale."

"How does she act?"

I smirked despite the situation. "She's really annoying, but she seems to care about me. Most of the time, anyway."

Fabian actually laughed at that. "Well, she sounds a little like Amber."

I thought about it. "Aria is actually like a cross between Amber and Patricia, strangely enough."

"Ah," Fabian said. We talked for a little while longer, not about my problem or Aria or anything, until I looked at the clock. It was after midnight.

"Um, Fabian? It's after midnight. Maybe we can finish this conversation in the morning?"

"Sure," Fabian said, getting up. He walked to the door and stopped just before opening it. "See you tomorrow?"

I smiled. "See you tomorrow."

He left, Amber came back, and I lay down on my bed, thinking about everything that had happened. Fabian hadn't thought I was crazy. He didn't treat me different now that he knew. I smiled as I fell asleep.

Maybe I was going to be okay.

* * *

**Okay, so Fabian finally found out the truth! Yay! Now Nina has someone that she can talk to without worrying about them finding out. But will she completely open up to Fabian? I mean, she did give him her journal, but it didn't have everything about her problem in it. Next chapter Nina realizes something and Amber finds out. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Alfie arrived earlier today, so now we've got all of our team. We've decided who has which part in our master plan. Patricia's our distraction, Jerome and Alfie our recovery team, and I'm the lookout. Okay, so I got the worst job ever, but hey, I'll end up with the papers! I don't own House of Anubis, but until we can exact our new master plan, enjoy Chapter thirteen: Telling Amber.**

* * *

Chapter thirteen: Telling Amber

I woke up the next morning and wanted nothing more than to vanish. I had told Fabian the truth. I had told Fabian the truth about me. He knew about Aria, he knew about my delusions, he even knew about my visits to Dr. Jenks.

I bolted up. Oh crap! I missed my session yesterday! Gran was going to kill me if she found out! I had never missed an appointment, not in the five years that I've been going to a shrink. How had I managed to forget that I had to go to Dr. Jenks' office?

I reached for my phone and dialed the number for the local psychiatrist's office. I had to explain why I had missed yesterday and hope she wasn't mad. On the third ring, Dr. Jenks picked up.

"_Hello_?" she said brightly, despite that it was ten a.m. on a Sunday.

"Dr. Jenks? It's Nina Martin." I crossed my fingers that she wasn't upset.

"_Good morning Nina. Why are you calling today_?"

I bit my lip. "Um, I actually wanted to apologize for not showing up to my session yesterday. A lot was on my mind, and I completely forgot that I was supposed to be there until just a few minutes ago."

I could tell Dr. Jenks was smiling as she said "_It's fine Nina. All of my patients miss a few sessions_."

I shook my head even though I knew she couldn't see me. "No, it's not fine. I promised my gran that I wouldn't miss any of my appointments. I never break a promise."

Dr. Jenks sighed. "_Nina, I'm not upset, and I may be over stepping my grounds here, but I don't think your gran would be upset either_."

"But I promised her I wouldn't miss an appointment," I argued.

"_And I respect that, but its okay to miss just one appointment. No one is getting mad at you. In fact, why don't you come down today? I have an open spot you can take_."

I grinned. "When is it?"

"_At three p.m. this afternoon, if it's not too late for you_."

"Three would be perfect. Thanks, Dr. Jenks."

"_Good bye, Nina_."

"Bye," I said, hitting the red END button on my phone. My smile grew. This was actually working out better than I thought it would. Now I could make up for missing yesterday. Now what to do about Fabian?

He already knew my secret, so it wasn't like I had to hide it from him anymore, but what if he told someone else? It wasn't likely that he would, but what if it slipped out? I had every reason to be worried. I wasn't sure Fabian had ever kept a secret before. He didn't seem like the kind of guy to keep secrets.

But instead of thinking about that, I got up, got dressed, and headed downstairs. I had slept in until ten o'clock, so breakfast was already over. Fabian was sitting down on the couch, reading his textbook. I sank down beside him, almost giving the British teen a heart attack. I smiled as he visibly calmed down.

"So," I said. "Now you know. And you won't tell anyone?"

"What? No! I wouldn't tell anyone ever," Fabian said.

I sighed in relief. He wasn't going to tell anyone. That was my greatest fear, being found out by everyone. What would they do to me? But I pushed my fear away for the moment as Fabian asked his question.

"You know I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, but can I please tell Amber? She cares about you, and I know she can keep a secret," Fabian added, seeing my stunned expression.

What? He just got through telling me he wasn't going to tell anyone and then asks if he can tell someone? What the heck was he thinking?! I didn't want anyone else to know I was crazy! Was Fabian insane as well?

But then I thought about what he said. Amber was sort of my friend, or at least, the closest thing I had to a friend. And if Fabian knew she could keep a secret, then maybe she could. He normally wasn't wrong about things like that. With a deep sigh, I nodded. Yeah, he could tell Amber.

Fabian grinned. "Thanks Nina. I know that must've been hard for you to do. Giving my permission to tell Amber, I mean."

A thought struck me. "Wait," I said. Fabian tilted his head in confusion. He probably thought I was changing my mind. Far from it. "Fabian, don't tell Amber. I'll do it."

"You're going to tell her?" he asked, shock in his voice. I nodded, the ghost of a smile playing across my face.

"Yeah. It's only right."

"What's only right?" someone asked from behind me. I jumped in my seat as Patricia walked around the couch and plopping down beside me. "Well?"

"Umm," I said, not sure what to say. "Why don't you tell her, Fabian?" Yeah, I was putting him on the spot, but I was a really bad liar, and I wasn't going to magically become a better liar in an instant.

Poor Fabian just looked at me and blinked. I could practically see the wheels spinning in his mind. When he finally came up with something, it was so stupid it was almost believable.

"Nina and I were just talking about telling Amber about . . . our date on Wednesday."

Patricia smirked at me. "Well, I'll be sure to tell Joy about this."

And with that, Patricia sauntered off.

As soon as she was gone, I glared at Fabian. "Our date?" I hissed. "Really?"

Fabian shrugged his shoulders innocently. "Sorry, it was all I could think of! And I didn't see you coming up with anything!"

I ducked my head in embarrassment. He was right. I hadn't come up with anything. "Sorry," I apologized. "It's my fault anyway. I gave you no time to come up with anything."

Fabian shook his head. "I'm not mad, Nina. But why did Patricia say she was going to tell Joy?"

I was actually a little stunned. He didn't know? Joy obviously liked him. She flirted with him every chance she got. But instead of trying to explain it to him, I just shook my head. "I don't know," I told him, lying out my teeth. At least he didn't say anything more about it.

We spent a while talking about our families, oddly enough. Fabian wanted to know about my gran, and I wanted to hear more about his little sister. She sounded adorable. He mentioned something called Parent Day, but I had absolutely no idea what that was. Fabian had to explain it.

Apparently it was a day that our families could come and visit us. I had no idea if Gran would come, but I kind of hoped she didn't. I didn't want her to know I missed an appointment or –god forbid –come with me to my next one. But as to Fabian's family, I really wanted to meet his sister. He assured me that she was coming, which made me smile. I loved little kids.

But then something occurred to me, something awful. People thought I visited my aunt once a week. They would expect her to visit me, but since she didn't exist, she wouldn't. I relayed this to Fabian.

"No," he said. "No one really cares whose parents or aunts or anything show up. Trust me, no one will say anything."

Though I didn't believe him, I moved the topic away from Parent Day. We ended up talking about how I was going to tell Amber the truth. He wanted me to just come out and tell her, but I felt like I had to ease into it. Really it all came down to how well I knew Amber. How would she react to the truth? But before I could tell her, I had to go see my doctor. Too much had happened for me not to talk about.

We talked for a little while longer, passing the time before I had to leave.

* * *

At two-thirty, Trudy came into the common room to tell me the cab was almost here. I waved almost cheerfully to her and Fabian as I walked out of Anubis House and got into the cab.

When the cabbie pulled up to Dr. Jenks' office, I paid him and got out. I sat in almost absolute silence until the door opened and a kind woman in her forties stepped out. Dr. Jenks beckoned me in, so I stood up and walked into her office.

"So Nina, is there anything you want to talk about today?" she asked as she took her seat.

I nodded. "Yeah, actually. I told someone about my diagnosis yesterday."

Dr. Jenks looked stunned. "That's wonderful, Nina. If you don't mind me asking, why did you tell them?"

I rolled my eyes. "I got tired of keeping my secret from my friends. I told Fabian first, but I think I'll tell Amber too. She's a good friend and she's sort of psychotic herself so I know she won't judge me too much."

I could tell that this news was surprising for Dr. Jenks to say the least. After I told her a little more about my friends, the topic changed to Aria. My appointment seemed to pass quicker than normal today. Once I said goodbye to Dr. Jenks, I hailed a taxi and piled in. On the way back to Anubis House, I finally took the time to take a deep breath and calm down.

* * *

When I got to Anubis House, I got out of the cab and walked up to the front door. Fabian was waiting on me with a kind smile on his face. Trudy waved at us from her spot in the kitchen –I swear that woman spends every waking moment in the kitchen –as Fabian and I went to go sit in the common room. No one else was in there, so I felt safe enough to talk to him.

He asked me about Aria again. He wanted to know how she acted, why I seemed so annoyed by her. I told him what I could, though there wasn't much to tell. Aria was too joking and too annoying to have any real personality. After a while the conversation died out, so I got up and went to my room, though I did tell Fabian I'd see him later.

When I got to my room, I noticed the door was open. Amber was inside, brushing out her hair. She saw me hovering by the open door and beckoned me inside.

"What's up?" she asked, not paying any real attention on me.

"Well," I began. "There's something I need to tell you. Something important."

That got the blonde's attention. She turned around in her chair and faced me, a focused expression on her face. After staring at me for a few seconds, Amber repeated her earlier question.

I sighed. It was now or never. "Okay, so you know how I've been acting kind of weird since you met me?"

"Yeah," Amber said slowly, not knowing where this was going.

"Well, there's a reason for that. Have you ever heard the term 'schizophrenia'?"

Amber frowned. "Isn't that where people see things that aren't there?"

I nodded. "Yeah, people with schizophrenia have hallucinations. We see things that aren't there and hear things that others can't."

I bit my lips as Amber comprehended what I said. I could tell she understood what I said when a soft gasp escaped her lips. Amber clasped a hand over her mouth as she gasped, too late to stop it. Seconds later, she took her hand off her mouth.

"You have schizophrenia?" she whisper-asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I've had it for years. I've probably had it since I was seven, but I was diagnosed with it when I was eleven. But there's more to it than just schizophrenia. Have you heard of PTSD?"

"Post traumatic stress disorder," Amber rattled off clearly. "Everyone's heard of it. My daddy's friend has it. When he hears something that sounds like a gunshot, he freaks. Why do you ask?"

"Remember Halloween, when I freaked out at the sight of the fake car crash? You can thank PTSD for that. My parents died in a car crash and I was in the backseat."

Amber's eyes widened more than I would've thought possible. She got up from her chair and grabbed me in a hug. I didn't know how to react to this. I thought she would've been mad at me for hiding that from her, but she just seemed sympathetic.

"Nins," Amber said when she let me go, "you are amazingly strong and brave to keep that secret. Tell me, who have you told besides me?"

"Trudy knows because Gran called and told her," I said. "And I told Fabian."

Amber grinned. "I knew it! I knew you'd tell Fabian your secret before you told me! When he mentioned you saying something about a secret that could destroy you, I knew you'd tell him before you told me. But that's beside the point. The point is that I'm not going to tell anyone if you don't want me to, but it's nice that you wanted to tell me."

Yep, this was definitely the reaction I expected from Amber. She didn't care that I was psychotic; she was just glad I told her. It was Joy and Patricia I'd have to watch out for. Somehow I had managed to piss off Joy, and Patricia was backing her up. But that was a different train of thought.

We talked for a while, Amber asking what I saw that others didn't and me telling her all about Aria, until Alfie came inside the room and begged Amber to talk a walk with him. Amber got up and walked to the door, but paused just as she was leaving.

"A little birdie told me that you and Fabian are going on a date Wednesday," she said cheerfully. "Before you go, I'm making you get ready, and there will be no trying to get out of it."

Before I could protest, Amber left. Crap, everyone thought Fabian and I were going on a date! What was I going to do?

* * *

**There's going to be a Fabina date that isn't a date? Or will I be a horrible author and not have them go on the date? You'll just have to keep reading to find out! Next chapter everyone in Anubis House finds out about Nina and Fabian's 'date' and there's a lot of laughter. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Epic Fail. Epic, massive, complete and utter FAIL. Alfie had no idea what he was looking for, so we ended up getting someone's résumé instead of the House of Anubis papers! Alfie had to go on the mission solo because Jerome got sick (nothing major, he'll be fine by the end of the week) and couldn't sneak around to get the papers. Patricia performed the best distraction I've ever seen –okay, the only real distraction I've ever seen. And my job was super easy because no one came near the record-hall. But Alfie grabbed the wrong papers! ARGH! I still don't own House of Anubis, but until we fire Alfie, enjoy Chapter fourteen: Dealing With Life.**

* * *

Chapter fourteen: Dealing With Life

The next morning, I got up, got ready for school, and made my way down the stairs. It had been a hectic weekend, even for me. I had told both Fabian and Amber about my condition, Amber thought Fabian and I were dating, and Aria was getting even more annoying.

Oh joy.

Speaking of Joy, she was already at the table when I got there; everyone was. Though when I took a closer look I noticed Patricia was missing. Where was she? The redhead was never late for breakfast.

A few minutes after I sat down, Patricia walked in and locked eyes with Joy. She sat down and piled some food onto her plate before she spoke. What she said had me so stunned I almost fell out of my seat.

"Nina and Fabian are going out on a date Wednesday," she said smugly.

Naturally, this caused a little chaos.

Joy glared at me with such hatred that I was surprised I didn't die right there. Alfie shot Fabian and thumbs-up and hi-fived Jerome. Mick and Mara just looked confused, like they weren't sure why anyone cared. Amber was grinning like she knew it would happen all along. And Fabian and I both looked horrified.

"What?!" Joy shrieked, breaking the silence.

Amber smirked at her. "Yay, Fabina!"

I shook my head violently. "No, no, no, no, it's not a date. It's just, ah, well, um . . . Fabian can you help me out here?" I almost whispered the last part.

Fabian looked around and, after mouthing an apology to me, went ahead with his explanation. "Yeah, we're going out. It's none of your business, guys."

Oh, I was gonna kill him.

As the room finally quieted down, I got up and started walking out the door. I was getting a head start to school. Maybe I could see if the drama teacher, Mr. Winkler, would let me do some extra work in the afternoons so I could be somewhere else instead of the attic. Victor still wouldn't let me up there.

Unfortunately, Mr. Winkler wasn't in the class room when I got there. Drat, I had really hoped I hide out here after school. I mean, I'd still be helping, it's just I wanted a place to hide after everyone was back at Anubis. Just as I was leaving, who should walk through the door but Mr. Winkler?

"Oh, hello Nina," he greeted, seeing me there. "What are you doing at school so early?"

"I was wondering if there was anything I could help out with in the afternoons. After school, I mean. I could work around the drama room, straightening things or working on set pieces or something," I offered, mentally crossing my fingers. Aria walked in and shot me a thumbs-up.

Mr. Winkler considered it. "Well, I suppose you could work around the drama room after school, but I wouldn't be here to supervise. You'd be alone."

I shrugged. "Being alone isn't a problem. I was just wondering if I could do some extra work."

"I just have one question," he said. "Why do you want to do extra work?"

I hadn't expected this, so I had to come up with a decent lie pretty quick. "Um, I just want to help. You know, drama being my favorite class and all."

He smiled slightly before saying "If you really want to, then it's no problem for you to work in the drama room after school. I'll clear it with Mr. Sweet at lunch. Now shouldn't you get to class?"

I grinned slightly as I started to walk away. "Thank you!" I called back.

This was going to work out perfectly. I had found my new hiding place, and now all I had to do was make sure I was working in the drama room Wednesday night so Fabian could take back what he said about our 'date'. Gah, the residents of Anubis House thought we were actually going on a date. It wasn't that I didn't think Fabian was a good guy or anything, but I knew that he really thought I was nuts and was just trying to be nice.

I knew it wasn't fair of me to think things like that, but it was what I believed. No one really thought much of me. I made my way to my first class and took my seat a few minutes before the bell rang. As the bell rang, everyone else came in and sat down, facing the whiteboard in preparation for the class.

The teacher came in after the final bell rang. She taught the lesson, and when she was done we were allowed to talk for the last ten minutes of class. While everyone else talked, I stayed in my seat, scribbling something on a sheet of paper. It took me about two minutes to realize what I was doing. When I saw what I had written, I felt the blood drain from my face.

I was writing down a conversation between me and Aria.

When I read over it, I noticed that even my handwriting had changed slightly when I was writing as Aria. The conversation was similar to how we had talked before I refused to say anything else to her.

_Hey A._

_Nins! You're talking to me again?_

_Sort of, I guess. I've missed you._

_I've missed you too. Omigosh, we have so much to talk about. What about your date with Fabes?_

_Ari, I'm not going on a date. You know that._

_I don't care. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, then I'm gonna make it a duck!_

_Aria, you're not making any sense, like always._

_Hey, you're the one not making any sense. You're the one writing this, after all._

That was the last thing I had written until I noticed what I had been doing. Only one thought was echoing through my mind at that point.

_Oh. My. God._

I crumpled the paper up in my hand and stuffed it in the pocket of my jacket. Was I slipping? Was I losing the ground that I had fought to gain against my illness? I had practically had a conversation with Aria for the first time in three years. That had never happened before. When the bell rang for class to be over, I rushed to my next class, one of the only two I had with Fabian. For some reason, I wanted to ask him what he thought of this.

When I sat down beside him a few minutes later, Fabian looked up with a slight smile on his face. The smile died, though, when he saw the worried look on mine.

"What's wrong?" he asked. In response, I handed him the crumpled-up note I had written in my last class. After he read the whole thing, Fabian gazed at me with a soft look of understanding.

"Nina, it's okay," he said, handing the note back.

I shook my head. "No, it's not okay. I hadn't even known I was writing it!"

Before Fabian could say anything else, Mr. Sweet came in and started the science lesson. I paid attention to the lesson as best I could, something about animals and their environments, but it wasn't easy. I was a little preoccupied with what had happened in my last class. Why had that happened?

No, I knew exactly why it had happened. Stress affected my condition sometimes, so it was easy to assume that the stress from the last few days was causing me to freak a little more than usual. Yeah, that was it. It was just stress.

Once I had come to that conclusion, my mood was considerably lifted. I believed that this day was actually going to get better. That was a slight shock, but a good one. I was glad that I thought my day would get better. That was a rarity in my life.

* * *

Once I got back to Anubis House that afternoon, my automatic reaction was to go straight to the attic before I remembered: I was supposed to be in the drama room right now. I bolted back out the door, hearing people exclaim in surprise as I rushed past. Crap, crap, crap, I had completely forgotten about the whole drama-helping-thing.

When I got back to the school, I was completely out of breath and my ribs were aching, but I still made myself walk through the hallways until I got to the drama room. Mr. Winkler was just packing up his papers and such when I huffed and puffed my way inside.

"Sorry I'm –late," I managed to say through gasps for breath. "I forgot."

The teacher waved it off. "It's okay. There wasn't a specific time for your work or anything. So, could you try to pick up the dressing room? You don't have to get it all clean today, though."

By this point I had caught my breath, so I could answer in complete sentences. "Okay, Mr. Winkler. Um, where is the dressing room?"

He directed me to the dressing room and told me the lights went out at seven, so I had to be gone before then. I told him I'd be gone before five thirty, so there was no problem. After Mr. Winkler left, I made my way to the dressing room. When I opened the door, I stopped dead in my tracks.

This place was a mess. Costumes littered the floor, scarves were draped over everything, and hats were dotting the room. It was chaotic, and it would probably take forever to clean. I looked at the clock in the corner and saw it was only three thirty. I had two hours to tackle this mess. I was definitely in over my head.

Taking a deep breath, I started picking up the costumes. Thirty minutes later, I was given a huge surprise. Someone knocked on the door, scaring the crap out of me. I whipped my head around to see Fabian standing there, leaning against the doorframe with a small smile on his face.

"Hey," he said, walking over. "What did you do to get detention?"

"What?" I said in surprise. I hadn't gotten detention.

Fabian tried again. "When people get detention, they're made to clean the dressing room. I can't figure out why you got detention."

I rolled my eyes as I threw a scarf into the box I'd been tossing them into. "I don't have detention, Fabian. I asked to do this. Victor banned me from the attic, so school was my next best hiding place."

That seemed to make a small amount of sense to him, because after I finished speaking, Fabian decided he was going to help out. I showed him how I'd been organizing everything so far, and he caught on pretty quickly. But our cleaning slowly turned to messing around when I found a feather boa and threw it around Fabian's neck.

"Perfect," I said, ending in a giggle. Fabian should never wear a pink feather boa. Ever. He, of course, retaliated by placing the most ridiculous neon sombrero on my head. Instead of cleaning for the rest of the afternoon, we ended up playing around with the costumes in the drama room. Somehow, by the time we left, Fabian was a cross between a pirate and a cop, while I looked like some sort of strange cat-queen-thing.

We were laughing so hard at each other and ourselves that we didn't even notice that we were still wearing the ridiculous costumes when we left the dressing room. We walked back to Anubis House together, still chuckling about everything that'd happened. But when we opened the door and stepped inside, we were greeted by Amber holding up a camera and snapping a picture of us.

"Yay, the first ever Fabina photo!" she cried happily. Then she really looked at us. "What _are_ you wearing?"

I looked over at Fabian to see he still had an eye patch on and a cop hat. I looked at myself and realized I was still wearing cat ears, a feather boa –the same one I'd put on Fabian earlier –and a tiara. When Fabian also realized how ridiculous we looked, he started laughing again. I joined in, and soon even Amber was laughing. I took my boa and draped it over the blonde, making her laugh harder.

Once we were all recovered, Fabian and I ditched the costumes, gathering them up and stuffing them in my messenger bag, which was still hanging on my shoulder. We walked into the common room, where most everyone else was sitting. They looked at us like we were nuts, but before any of us could ask what was wrong, Jerome spoke up.

"Were there hyenas out there or did we miss something?"

Amber, strangely enough, was the one to answer. "Somehow Nina and Fabian got a hold of some of the drama room costumes, and they looked so funny! Here, I've got a picture."

And before either Fabian or I could protest, Amber promptly hit a few buttons on her camera and showed everyone –meaning Jerome, Mara and Alfie –the picture of Fabian and me. Everyone laughed when they saw the picture. Once everyone had seen it, I snatched the camera away from Amber and looked at the photo myself.

Okay, it was hilarious. Fabian looked ridiculous and I had to admit that I did too. He had a stupid police hat placed askew on his head and an eye patch over his right eye. I had a sparkly, plastic, silver tiara on my head along with a pair of fuzzy black cat ears. Around my neck was a feathery and sparkly boa. But while I was looking at the camera with a lighthearted glimmer in my eyes, Fabian was looking at me with carefree delight. Wow, I might actually ask Amber if she'd print it out for me.

What was I thinking? Yeah, I thought Fabian was a good guy and a great friend, but I didn't think any more of him. Did I? I actually wasn't sure at this point. But what I did know was that he didn't really like me. He might think he did, but I knew better. Eventually he'd realize that he just pitied me and would leave me in the dust, and I wasn't ready for that.

I had been dropped –not literally, but it might as well have been –once before by my old friends and it had taken me years to get over it. I wouldn't allow myself to go through that same pain again. But for now I'd forget about that and try to accept the fact that I had friends. It would be a nice change for me to have friends again.

* * *

**Okay, so now Nina has accepted that she has friends! Finally, right? Nina is thinking that she might like Fabian, so there's some more Fabina for you. And Nina was writing a conversation between her and Aria! *gasp* Do you agree that it's just stress, or do you think it's something else? Oh, random note: I have decided that this fanfic has an official theme song! Have you guys heard Clarity? That's the song I chose for this fic. I think it fits perfectly. What do you think? Next chapter Nina and Fabian go on a 'date' and there's an exuberant Amber. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: We decided not to fire Alfie; Jerome wouldn't let us make Alfie go home. So now we're taking a while to come up with a new game plan. It doesn't look good, though. I'm probably not going to own House of Anubis, which sucks cause I've got a great idea for a season four that would follow the season three Sibuna plus Nina and possibly Amber. Anyway, I don't own House of Anubis, so enjoy Chapter fifteen: Fake Dating.**

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Chapter fifteen: Fake Dating

It was Wednesday. The day Fabian and I were supposed to go on a date. I still wasn't comfortable pretending to go on a date with him, but as long as we were both out of the house at the same time, then everyone would assume that we went out.

I wanted to make sure Fabian knew that I didn't want to go on a date, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why he said we were going. I knew it was a cover for what we had been talking about, but I also knew that he wouldn't lie about his dating life like that. So why did he say that? And why had he left me a note after drama telling me to meet him at the foot of the stairs right before dinner?

But before I could ask Fabian about it, I had to find Fabian. He wasn't in the common room when I got back from cleaning the dressing room –it still wasn't clean, and this had been my third day working on it. Fabian was always in either the common room or his bedroom. When I asked Mick if he was in there he said no, Fabian wasn't in there. I was getting a little worried, but hey, Fabian was his own person; it wasn't my business whether or not he decided to do something out of his normal routine.

Amber skipped into the kitchen, where I was getting a glass of water. She peered at me, making me nervous. What did she want?

"Maybe she thinks you killed Fabian and hid his body in the cellar," Aria suggested. She'd been my constant shadow all day –not leaving even once –which hadn't really happened in the last few weeks, but I didn't question it. She wasn't acting different, she was just around more.

I glared at her, but I didn't respond. Instead, I looked at Amber and asked her what she was doing in here. I hadn't expected her outburst.

"What am _I_ doing in here? What are_ you_ doing in here?! You're going on a date soon and you haven't even started getting ready!" she huffed, putting her hands on her hips.

I tilted my head in confusion. "What date? You mean that thing with Fabian? We're not going on a date."

Amber grinned. "Then why is Fabian setting up a picnic out by the tree?"

"What?" So that's where Fabian had gone? But why was he setting up a picnic? Dinner was in twenty minutes. Oh. Maybe he was planning on eating with someone. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes when Aria suggested that Fabian was going to ask me. Fabian didn't like me like that.

But Amber saw the denial in my eyes and decided to do something about it. She grabbed my arm and dragged me up to our room, me protesting the whole way. She forced me to sit on the lone chair and stay still while she brought out a familiar bag.

"Amber! Get that away from me!" I begged as she pulled out her makeup bag. "I don't wear makeup!"

"On a date you do," she countered, reaching for her blush.

I grumbled about it not being a date, but let her work her "beauty queen mojo" as she called it. She swiped the brush across my face, making comments about using only natural colors and very little glitter because she knew I hated it and lots of mascara because my eye lashes were apparently too thin. Once she was done with my makeup, she moved onto my hair. She ruffled it, she added products that I probably couldn't pronounce, and she used things that looked more like weapons than styling instruments. Amber was an unstoppable force.

Once she deemed me ready, Amber then proceeded to go to my wardrobe and pull out some clothes for me to wear. I protested that I was perfectly able to pick out my own clothes, but she ignored me. She rooted around in my closet for a few seconds until she found what she was looking for.

"Found it!" she cried cheerfully. It was the teal tank top she had bought me a few weeks ago, the one with the blue ribbon around the waist. "Now wear this with a pair of jeans and some cute flats, and you'll knock him dead."

"Amber," I whined. "It's not a date. He's just setting up a picnic."

"Nins, that's a date. Now go get dressed. You have to be down there in ten minutes, so I suggest you don't be late."

After I got dressed, I actually looked in the mirror for the first time since Amber had attacked my with beauty products. I had freakin glitter in my hair! But glitter aside, I had to admit Amber was a miracle worker. She had actually managed to make me look almost pretty. Not beautiful or anything, I knew I would never look beautiful, but I didn look nice.

Amber squealed when she saw me, but she left me alone after that, saying I needed to hurry up and go downstairs. I rolled my eyes and left, walking slowly so I could give myself time to back out if I wanted. Did I want to back out? No. Did I feel like I should? Yes.

Was I going to? I wasn't sure.

My feet carried me down the stairs and into the hallway on their own accord. I had no control. Apparently I subconsciously wanted to go, otherwise I wouldn't be going. Fabian was waiting in front of the door, a smile on his face.

"You came," he said cheerfully. "I thought you'd ignore my note."

"No, I wanted to come," I said, surprising myself with it being true. I had wanted to come? Aria whistled from behind me, but for once I didn't care.

He smiled at me and offered me his arm. I threaded my arm through his and followed him outside the house, where a little spot was already set up by the huge tree on the grounds. Fabian had put a blanket down on the ground and had arranged a few plates across the fabric. I sat down opposite him and waited for him to say something.

"You look nice," he said finally, not looking me in the eye.

"Thanks. You too."

Truthfully? I didn't know much about boy's clothing, but he did look good. He must have thought about what he was going to wear, because Fabian never really dressed to impress like he did tonight.

After a few more seconds of silence, Fabian reached for one of the sandwiches and took a bite. I followed his example, taking a small bite out of mine. Hm, not bad. Ham, cheese, and . . . pepperoni? Not really a normal combination, but it wasn't bad.

"This is good," I said to him after I swallowed.

Fabian laughed. "No, it sucks. Trudy wouldn't let me in the kitchen for more than five minutes by myself. The last time she had left me alone, the stove caught on fire."

I almost choked on my bite of bread. "Caught fire?! What were you doing, making a bomb?"

"No, I was trying to make a grilled cheese sandwich. I think there are still smoke rings along the ceiling."

I laughed, finally realizing what those strange marks on the ceiling in the kitchen were. Wow, I finally found something I could do that Fabian couldn't. Was it bad that I was happy about that?

* * *

After we ate, Fabian and I cleaned up and started making our way back to Anubis House. As we walked, I thought about why Fabian had asked me to go on a picnic with him. Maybe it was just to add to the cover? I grinned to myself, realizing that Fabian was the best friend I'd ever had.

"What?" he asked, seeing my smile.

"I just realized something," I said cheerfully. "You're the best friend I've ever had. Well, you're one of the only two friends I've had since everyone found out about my condition. But still, you're really nice to me."

Fabian shrugged. "I guess. I'm just naturally kind to everyone."

"Yeah, but you helped me cover up my condition by taking me on a fake date," I stated as we neared the house. "And I'll never be able to thank you enough for not ditching me when you found out."

Fabian frowned. "Why would I do that?"

I sighed, taking a seat on the steps of the porch. Fabian followed my example, sitting to the right of me. We were only an inch or two apart, but for some reason I found myself wanting to close the space and rest my head on his shoulder. Naturally, I ignored my impulse and stayed where I was.

"I never really told you what happened when everyone at my old school found out, did I?" I asked softly. Fabian shook his head. I sighed. "I thought not. Well, when I was little I actually did have friends. I had five really good friends that I spent every weekend with. We'd have sleepovers, watch movies, go to the park, everything. But then I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and PTSD and I had to start going to therapy. I didn't tell my friends where I went every Saturday afternoon, and eventually one of them got curious." I stopped suddenly, my eyes tearing up. It still hurt, even after all this time.

"Nina," Fabian said softly, "if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

"No, I'm fine," I lied. "But like I was saying, one of my friends got curious. So she followed me one day, and she saw I went to the local shrink's office. She didn't ask me about it; instead she went straight home and told her older sister. Her sister really didn't like me, even though I'd never done anything to offend her, so she told her friends who told their friends who told their friends and so on. By Monday everyone had heard about 'Mad Martin,' and I got the whole story from the one who told her sister. That was also when she told me she didn't want to hang out with me anymore. My other friends followed suit, and by Friday I was completely alone."

Recounting my tale made me want to cry. I hadn't thought about them at all in the last few years. I'd always had Aria talking to me, so I never felt alone. But sometimes, like now, I'd realize that I'd had no one back at my old school. It just didn't make any sense; why would my friend betray me like that? We had practically been sisters. I hadn't realized I was crying until Fabian put his arm around me and rested my head on his shoulder. Guess I got what I had wanted earlier, huh?

I just sat there, crying my eyes out while Fabian hugged me. It felt nice for someone to actually care about me, even though the pessimistic part of me wanted to think it was just because Fabian felt sorry for me. But I pushed those thoughts away and just let myself feel the anguish and pain my old friends had caused.

Fabian sat outside with me for at least an hour before I calmed down enough to compose myself. When I looked at Fabian's shirt I gave a watery chuckle.

"What?" he asked, leaning right so he could see why I was laughing.

I gestured to the black stains on his shoulder. "I think I ruined your shirt. I _told_ Amber makeup was a bad idea."

Fabian shrugged. "It doesn't matter; I've got other shirts. Are you okay though?"

I nodded, though even that felt like a lie. Was I okay? I wasn't sure. How did I go from laughing and having fun to sobbing on my friend's shoulder? Maybe I was bipolar too. It would figure. I took a deep breath and pulled myself into a standing position. It was time to go inside.

When I opened the door, I was almost blinded by the flash of a camera and deafened by a squeal coming from Amber. I could tell Fabian had the same reaction because we both stumbled backwards. Amber giggled at our reaction.

"I'm not attacking you guys . . . wait, why's Nina's mascara smeared on your shirt?"

I looked to Fabian for a convincing excuse, but he just shrugged. Great, now it was my turn to lie. I thought about it for a split second before I answered.

"Um, the sprinklers went off and soaked my face and I slipped and fell into Fabian. It's my fault," I said. Most of it may have been a lie, but the part about it being my fault wasn't. It had been my fault for going and recounting my friendship woes.

Fabian immediately shook his head. "No, it was my fault. I should've remembered about the –sprinklers." He stumbled over the word _sprinklers_.

Amber hmphed. "Fine. Lie to me. But I know what makeup looks like when it runs because you got wet and what it looks like when you're crying, and Nina was crying. The only thing I don't know is why."

I felt the blood drain from my face. Amber knew I'd been crying. But what should I tell her? I couldn't go through that again tonight. Fabian, bless his heart, was the one to save me from explaining.

"Amber, there are some things you need to know and some that you don't. This falls into don't. Just leave this alone Amber."

She huffed, though thankfully she didn't say anything. Amber let me walk past her and up to our room, leaving her and Fabian standing by the stairs. I threw open the door, grabbed some clothes from my dresser, and hurried back out. I hoped no one was outside the door, but my luck would have it that Joy of all people was standing there.

"Hey N –wait, why were you crying?" she said, shocked.

I wiped at my face, hoping to hide the evidence. "I wasn't. I'm fine."

Joy peered at me curiously. "No, you were crying. What happened?"

I sighed. There was no getting out of this. Joy would mess with me or be hateful if I didn't at least come up with something. "It's nothing. I kicked a tree and it hurt."

I started to walk past her and to the bathroom when Joy said something that stopped me in my tracks.

"I know what happened."

* * *

**Please don't kill me for that cliffhanger! I know this is probably too soon for a Fabina date, but technically Nina didn't think of it as a date, so . . . And what do you think will happen with Joy? Will she be mean or turn a new leaf? Next chapter is the confrontation with Joy (duh) and a surprising revelation from Nina. Random side note/ info on story: remember how I mentioned a couple chapters ago that I was considering writing a sequel that was centered on Eddie? Well . . . I decided to trash the idea. I'm sorry if you were looking forward to it, but I figured I would just stick with this one. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: We've decided to take a break from trying to get the papers. It's a ploy to make the current owner relax before we snatch them right out from under their noses. Well, that and school is getting in the way. But we'll go back to our plan soon, and I might end up owning the show. I still don't own House of Anubis, but until we come up with a new plan, enjoy Chapter sixteen: Surprising Apologies.**

* * *

Chapter sixteen: Surprising Apologies

"I know what happened," Joy stated, stopping me in my tracks. She knew what happened? That I cried while telling Fabian about my old friends? That I was a schizophrenic? What happened?

"What are you talking about?" I asked, turning around to face her.

Joy gave a soft smile. "I know what happened outside –or at least I can guess. You and Fabian went on a date, and he said something to upset you, right? Or something else upset you and he was the cause? He's not great with words, and he tends to mess up. I've been his friend for years and he's normally nice, but he's also an idiot when it comes to saying what he's thinking."

"Joy, you've got it all wrong," I started, but she cut me off.

"No, you're just denying it," she countered. I sighed softly, but I let her continue. What she said next surprised me more than anything she'd said up to this point. "I'm sorry."

When I stopped blinking in surprise, I said "Sorry for what? You didn't do anything."

Joy shook her head. "No, I did do something. I was a jerk, and I shouldn't have been. It's petty, I know, but I thought that you got in the way between Fabian and me. I've figured out recently that he won't like me as anything more than a friend, and I'm trying to be okay with that. But if being with you makes him happy, then that's enough for me. So, I'm sorry."

I didn't know what to say to that. Was I supposed to say thank you or something? I was confused and conflicted as to what I should say.

"Um, Joy, I don't like Fabian like that, and he doesn't like me," I said slowly. "But thanks anyway. Uh, can I go change now?"

Joy gave a small smile. "Yeah, go ahead. I'm headed downstairs anyway. Bye Nina."

She walked off, leaving me standing in the middle of the hallway, frozen in confusion. What just happened? Had Joy just apologized to me? And for what? Being mean because she thought I liked Fabian? I shook my head, breaking out of my shock. I made my way into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, wondering just how bad I looked.

Scary. That was the only word that could describe my reflection. I had two long black streaks going from my eyes to my jaw, and the same dark black circling my eyes. I had to laugh at myself. Holy crap, I looked horrible! I found that I couldn't quit giggling, even when I physically tried to stop. What was wrong with me tonight? Maybe it was just shock from all that had happened. Yeah, it was shock.

When I finally managed to get myself to calm down, I started washing the makeup off my face. It took several minutes and dozens of paper towels, but I managed to get all the black streaks off. I changed into my pajamas, yanked a brush through my hair, and made my way out of the room, down the hall, and into my bedroom.

Amber was waiting on me when I got in there. "What happened?!" she demanded. "You two were supposed to be on your first date, and you end up crying! What did he do? I swear, if Fabian hurt you in anyway, I will take a bat to him!"

I chuckled at the mental image of Amber holding a bat and trying to hit Fabian. It was just comical. "Amber, it was my fault. Fabian didn't do anything. You don't have to hit him with a bat. I was just being an idiot."

"Well of course you were an idiot," Amber stated, surprising me. "You didn't even think it was a date. But that's no reason for you to start crying. Nins, I'm your friend and I care. So if you can't trust me enough to tell me why you were upset, then I guess you don't trust me like I trust you."

I sighed. Amber was resorting to using a guilt-trip. I could never resist a guilt-trip, and now I felt like I had to answer her. So I gave her the short version.

"I told Fabian about my old friends. When they found out that I went to a shrink, they ditched me and told everyone I was crazy. By Monday everyone had heard about me; by Friday I was completely alone."

Even the Cliff's Notes version was enough to make me teary eyed. Amber strode across the room and pulled me into a hug. I tried to squirm out of her grip –it was a little uncomfortable –but she held tight.

"I'll never abandon you," she promised. "And I know Fabian won't cause he likes you."

I managed to push Amber off so I could face her. "Amber, how many times do I have to tell you Fabian doesn't like me and I don't–" I broke off, not sure why I did. I was only telling the truth.

Wait a minute.

Normally when I broke off my sentences, I was telling myself a lie. Which meant . . . I liked Fabian? I liked Fabian. _I liked Fabian_. It was like once I admitted my feelings, I realized that every butterfly in my stomach when we were together, every flutter of my heart when he smiled at me, every smile that crossed my face for no reason was because I liked Fabian.

I, Nina Martin, liked Fabian Rutter.

That made a small smile form on my face, but I quickly killed it. If Amber knew that I liked Fabian, she'd never let it go. I might have liked Fabian, but I knew he didn't like me back. There was no possible way for him to like me back. I was broken, damaged, unfixable. Fabian wasn't broken –he was whole. He wasn't damaged –he was intact. He wasn't unfixable –there was nothing to fix. I was insane; Fabian was sane.

"Nina? Hey, earth to Nina!" Amber called, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You zoned out on me for a while. But hey, you can go on pretending that you don't like Fabian and Fabian doesn't like you. That's fine. But I'll get you to realize the truth before Christmas. Just you wait."

Amber grinned evilly before running out of the room. I chuckled, shaking my head. If only Amber knew the truth, that I knew I liked him, then she'd never leave me alone. I smiled to myself as I climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to my shoulders.

I liked Fabian Rutter. That was going to take some getting used to.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Joy asked me if I'd sit next to her. Jerome and Alfie pretended to die, whereas Patricia and Amber looked at Joy and I in shock. I accepted Joy's offer, and we ended up talking all through breakfast. I found out that when Joy wasn't being mean, she was actually an interesting person to be around.

During my first class, I wondered just when I had started liking Fabian. I knew it wasn't back on the first day, or even the first week, but I also knew that it wasn't last night or even last week. When had I first felt the butterflies and the fluttering of my heart? When had the first random smile crossed my face?

The more I thought about it, the more I started to believe it was the day I had first heard Fabian sing. That was the first time I had felt the butterflies swarming in my stomach. But I knew that it hadn't just been his singing I liked. I liked him for who he was. Fabian was nice to me even when most people would run screaming. But what if he ever came to his senses and ditched me?

I wasn't going to think about that.

When I got to my next class, I sat beside Fabian as usual. But today was not usual; today I knew how I felt. The only thing I didn't know was how Fabian felt. He probably just liked me like a friend, maybe not even that. Maybe he just thought of me as an acquaintance, someone you talked to when no one else was around. But how would that explain last night's picnic? It didn't. No one would set up a picnic for an acquaintance. That led me back to my first thought: Fabian saw me as a friend.

"Nina?" Fabian's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Mr. Sweet said we had to partner up with the person we were sitting with to do the assignment. Were you paying attention?"

I shook my head. "Sorry. I got caught in my thoughts."

Fabian looked to make sure no one was paying any attention to us before he continued in a low voice "Is it Aria?"

I gave a surprised chuckle. Aria hadn't even crossed my mind. "No, it's not Aria. If I'm not snapped out of it, I can get lost in my mind for hours. It's a trick I picked up when Aria wouldn't shut up for hours on end."

Fabian took pity on me and explained what we were doing. Thankfully he hadn't asked what I had been thinking about; that would've been embarrassing. We worked on the assignment for the entire class, getting it done just before the bell rang.

"Put you papers on my desk and be prepared to discuss the assignment tomorrow in class!" Mr. Sweet called out as everyone was gathering their things. I reached for the sheet of paper at the same time as Fabian, and his hand lightly brushed mine. I pulled back, my face feeling warm, and let Fabian take the paper up to Mr. Sweet's desk.

Maybe Joy apologizing to me yesterday had made me realize how I felt. Maybe I should thank her again. Oh well, it was only the third class of the day; I had five more classes until I had to decide.

* * *

**Aha! What did you think of that revelation? Nina now knows she liked Fabian! But she also thinks he only likes her as a friend. Oh well, she'll learn. Or will she? Keep reading to find out! The next chapter will seem a little strange, so please bear with me. Next chapter Nina finds out what life would be like if her dreams and nightmares came true . . . Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Alfie has suggested getting everyone from Anubis House to help get the papers and since I'm running out of ideas I decided to let him. So Alfie called Amber and told her to tell everyone else to come out here. I think Alfie's even got Victor and Trudy coming. Wow. It's a little overkill. I still don't own House of Anubis, but until everyone shows up, enjoy Chapter seventeen: What Life Would Be Like.**

* * *

Chapter seventeen: What Life Would Be Like

I decided not to re-thank Joy that afternoon; it would've seemed like I was either sucking up to her or I liked Fabian. I knew that I liked him, but I didn't want everyone else to know that. So I kept my mouth shut about it, and I went through my afternoon like normal. At ten, I got ready for bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, I felt like something was wrong.

Nope, I decided as I looked around. Amber was still asleep in her bed. My things were where they were supposed to be. Everything was fine. So why did I feel like there was something I was missing?

I got ready for school and made my way down into the common room, where everyone but Amber was already having breakfast. Fabian smiled when I sat down next to him.

"Good morning Nina," he greeted.

I smiled back. "Morning Fabian. What's up?"

"We're going on another picnic tonight," he commented with a grin. "If that's alright with you."

I smiled again. "Why wouldn't it be? My boyfriend can surprise me with a picnic if he wants."

Fabian's smile grew. "I was just checking. You know, for our second date, I wanted it to go better than the first."

I grimaced as I remembered what had happened Wednesday. I had twisted my ankle and almost sprained it, resulting in me crying from the pain and staining Fabian's shirt. Eek. As Fabian talked about the math test we were going to have today, I started to zone out. Thankfully, I was saved by my best friend.

"Nina, you have to let Amber and I do your hair tonight!" Aria squealed. I laughed.

"Okay," I said. "I'll let you guys work on my hair. It's not like I can stop you or anything."

"You're right about that," Amber said, walking into the room. She sat down in between Aria and me and started talking to the other American girl while I went back to talking to Fabian. I still couldn't believe that Aria and I had both been accepted to the Academy on scholarship at the same time. It was a little too good to be true, but I never looked a gift horse in the mouth.

At school, Aria sat beside me during English like she always did. But today she was a little too talkative. I asked her to be quiet in case the teacher was in a bad mood, but she just kept talking. Strangely the teacher didn't seem to notice Aria was talking even when she started laughing loudly for no reason other than to be noticed.

Thankfully she didn't have the same class as me next period, so I was Aria-free for science. Fabian and I worked on our new assignment together, getting it finished before anyone else. He talked excitedly about our date this afternoon, making me that much more eager about it. This was going to be fun.

During drama, I volunteered to help clean the dressing room, which I did every Friday, and Fabian decided to help this week. We worked all class, though we didn't get a lot of cleaning done because I ended up starting a dress-up war. Fabian ended up looking like some sort of cop-pirate thing and I looked like a weird cat-queen thing. When the bell rang, we shed our costumes and hurried out the door.

When I got back to Anubis House, I got a call from my aunt. I grinned, hitting the little green button to answer.

"Hey Aunt Lily," I greeted. "What's up?"

"_Nina, I've missed you; when are you coming to visit again_?"

I laughed. Lily Jenks was one of the pushiest people I'd ever had the pleasure of being related to. "Aunt Lily, I visit every Saturday. I'll be over tomorrow."

"_Promise? You know it gets lonely being here without anyone coming to visit._"

"You know you could just go out every once and a while and maybe meet Mr. Right," I joked. Aunt Lily constantly complained that she'd never had any luck dating so she gave up trying to find her Mr. Right.

"_Don't sass me missy_," she scolded. "_I may not be your gran, but she taught me everything she knew, and I know just how to deal with a smart mouth._"

I laughed again. "Okay, truce. Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"_See you tomorrow Nina. If you get a call from your gran, tell her I said hi._"

"Why don't you just call her yourself?"

"_Goodbye Nina_."

After the phone call, Amber and Aria ambushed me when I walked into the common room, dragging me up to our room and forcing me to sit down in the lone chair in front of the mirror. They then attacked me with makeup –going easy with the mascara this time –and moving onto my hair. Then Aria picked out my outfit, with Amber's approval of course.

I ended up wearing a pair of jeans with a dark blue shirt and a light jacket. When my two roommates deemed me ready for my date, they sent me out of the room and down the stairs.

I met Fabian by the front door. He took my hand in his and led me outside to a cute little spot by the back of the house. Fabian set up a blanket again, and we sat down next to each other. I smiled as he handed me a plate of food that was obviously prepared by Trudy –it wasn't a hastily made sandwich this time, but a plate of chicken.

"Thanks," I said, taking the plate from Fabian.

"You're welcome," Fabian said. "I just wanted this date to be better than our last one. It wasn't all that great."

I gave him a playful shove. "It was my fault I twisted my ankle. I was being an idiot. You had nothing to do with my stupidity."

"But I feel like it was my fault," Fabian countered. "I feel like if I hadn't pushed you to go on the date, then you wouldn't have hurt yourself."

"First of all, you didn't push me. We're dating, and that means we go on dates every once and a while. And second of all, if I hadn't stupidly decided to climb the tree and had fallen, I wouldn't have hurt my ankle. So it's not your fault Fabian. Can we please just enjoy this date?"

Fabian grinned. "Yeah, let's do that."

After that was out of the way, we ended up having a great time. Fabian even gave me a hug when we went back inside. I fell asleep thinking that this life was perfect and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning, I felt like something was completely wrong.

Nope, I decided, looking at the room I was in. It was the normal blue-and-white room I had been living in for the last three months. I hated this place, but it was the safest place for me to be, according to my gran.

The door opened and the nurse walked in, a kind smile on her face. "Nina? Oh good, you're awake. It's time to get up and see the doctor."

I smiled back, though it was forced. "Thanks Trudy. I'll be right out."

Trudy smiled at me once more before she turned and left, leaving me alone in my room. Well, technically alone. Aria was still in here with me, but she wasn't real. I found some clothes, pulled them on, and opened the door to leave. Aria followed me out, skipping and singing loudly. I gritted my teeth when she screamed in my ear.

"Shut up Aria!" I cried, begging her to stop. I'd started speaking to her again when I got locked up in this place. She was the only one I had now; even back in America I'd had someone, though it was only Gran. Here I had no one. Lucky little me was even shunned by the crazies.

The name on the door was _The Frobisher-Smythe Psychiatric Facility_. The name all the people who got admitted called it was _The Living Nightmare_. Over the last three months I had come to agree with them. If it hadn't been for the once a week calls from Gran, I think I would've become a living zombie, roaming the halls mindlessly.

As I made my way to the therapist's office, I started chatting with Aria. I felt like I was betraying Gran by talking to her, but my anger at Gran outweighed my guilt. I hadn't needed to be locked up in here. Oh no, the doctors at the hospital had told Gran she had a choice: take me home where I could stay with her and go to a shrink once a week or send me to the most secure psychiatric facility in England, thousands of miles away from my home. Naturally, I had been expecting Gran to keep me. Instead, she packed my bag and sent me here.

When I got to the therapist's office, I knocked loudly. The door opened to reveal Dr. Jenks standing in front of me, smiling brightly. She ushered me inside, and I took my seat across the desk from her.

"So Nina, is there anything you'd like to talk to me about?"

I shook my head. No, there wasn't anything I wanted to talk about. I wanted out of here.

Dr. Jenks frowned. "Are you sure? Maybe just something you'd like to say to someone?"

I snorted. "Yeah, let me out. I don't need to be in here."

The woman sighed. "Nina, you know–"

I cut her off. "Yeah, I know I'm a schizophrenic. I know I've got PTSD. I know I'm a freak. But I don't need to be in here because I can deal with my delusions. I'm perfectly capable of figuring out what's real and what's not and Aria isn't real."

"But you still talk to her."

I was getting frustrated. "I only started talking to her when I got admitted into this place! I only started talking to her because my gran dumped me in here! At least at home I had one person who would talk to me and ask me how my day was and not get paid for it. Here I'm shunned by the crazies! Do you know how that feels? Of course you don't; you're not crazy, and no one shuns you. You've probably got loads of friends outside of this loony bin."

Dr. Jenks sighed. This wasn't the first time we'd had this argument. "Nina, we're not here to talk about me; we're here to talk about you."

"No, you're here to talk _at_ me. I'm here to rot."

Without letting her say anything else, I stormed out. I hated being stuck in here! I didn't need to be in here, and I hated being looked down on for something that wasn't even my choice. I made my way to the common room and claimed my normal seat in the far corner by the window. I could just see the road that led out of here and I had been known to spend hours watching cars zip down it, free from this place.

One of the other patients, Amber, was going around talking to random people about random things until she switched people and topics. She had massive ADHD, or so she told me on my first day here. I thought she was a little annoying, but as long as she left me alone, I didn't care.

Patricia, another patient, snapped at Amber when she tried to talk to her. Patricia suffered from severe anger, or at least that's what I could determine from her actions. I'd never talked to her before, and I knew that I didn't want to.

Then someone I didn't know walked in. He must've been a newbie, because no one seemed to know him. He wandered over and sat in the only other chair by a window and started staring out of it. Yep, he was definitely new. The only ones who looked out the window with that much longing in their face were the newbies and me. I decided I might as well go talk to him, seeing as he probably hadn't heard the warning 'Stay away from Mad Martin.' That was confirmed when he looked up at me with huge brown eyes and asked me what my name was.

"I'm Nina. Lemme guess: you just moved in?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, apparently seeing things that aren't there is frowned upon."

I smiled softly, and it was the first real smile I'd had since I got here. "Tell me about it. My imaginary friend that I had when I was seven is still haunting me. So, what's your name and who do you see?"

The boy smiled slightly, though I could tell it was forced. "I'm Fabian, and I see a guy around my age that never ever shuts up."

My smile grew a bit. "That sounds a lot like Aria; the girl I see. She's only quiet when I'm sleeping."

"Am not! You just don't hear me," Aria countered, and for the first time since I'd started talking to her again I ignored her.

"That's just like Archer," Fabian said, "the guy I see. Lemme take a guess: the hospital told your parents that you could go home with them or be sent here and you got sent here?"

"Well, they told my gran, but yeah. I expected her to take me home; instead she packed my bag and sent me on the first available flight."

"We're so much alike," Fabian commented. "It's a little scary."

"You're telling me," I laughed. "Well Fabian, welcome to _The Living Nightmare_."

He frowned. "I thought this place was called _The Frobisher-Smythe Psychiatric Facility_."

I shrugged. "Give it a week and you'll be calling it _The Living Nightmare_ too."

Before I could say anything else, there was a commotion outside the room. I told Fabian to wait by the window while I went to check it out. When I got there, I didn't believe my eyes.

Patricia was trying to stab Amber.

I reached for the sharpened fork Patricia had –how'd she get it past the nurses? –and managed to yank it out of her grasp. That's when Trudy came down the hall.

"Thank god you're here," I began. "Patricia was trying to hurt Amber. Wait, what're you doing?"

Trudy had slowly begun to walk away and I watched as she hit the button on the wall that called the emergency team. I suddenly realized how this all looked: the schizophrenic had gone completely psycho and tried to hurt the innocent ADHD girl. But Trudy didn't seem to notice the blood on Patricia's hands.

"Trudy, this isn't what it looks like!" I pleaded. "I grabbed this from Patricia when she was trying to hurt Amber! I swear I didn't do anything!"

That didn't seem to matter. A group of three men in white uniforms came running down the hall. I saw that one of them had a funny looking white jacket in one hand. With a flash of understanding I knew what it was. The guy was holding a strait jacket. And I knew exactly who he was going to put it on.

Me.

"No," I whispered, dropping the sharpened fork on the ground and backing away slowly. "No, no, no, no. This cannot be happening! I didn't do anything!"

They obviously didn't believe me, but why didn't they see Patricia standing near Amber, a smug grin on her face? I mean, everyone knew Patricia had a temper to rival the Devil's, so why'd they assume it was me who had tried to hurt Amber?

One of the doctors grabbed me as I tried to run, while the other two did their best to force me into the strait jacket. I screamed for help, for them to let me go, for someone to listen. It turned to wordless screams of terror as I was being dragged down the corridor, toward the isolation room. This was my worst nightmare, the one that haunted me every night I was locked in this place, and it was finally coming true.

As I was being forced down the corridor, I saw the door to the common room open and Fabian step out. He locked gazes with me for a split second before slowly sliding back into the common room, probably thinking about how he'll end up like me in a few months.

I kept screaming, wordlessly begging them to let me go, until one of them injected me with some sort of knock out drug. As the world faded to a fuzzy black, I found myself thinking that this life was torture and that I would give anything to be normal for at least a minute.

* * *

I bolted up in bed, a scream ripping its way free from my throat.

* * *

**Please don't kill me for that cliffhanger! Remember how I said last chapter that this one might not make any sense? Well, was I right? Can anyone guess what the two different parts of this chapter really were? Next chapter you'll find out what happens after Nina's screaming stops and someone comforts her (bet you can't guess who!). Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Amber was only able to convince Eddie to come and help. Trudy couldn't leave Nina and Fabian alone, and Victor apparently started snarling about 'Those irresponsible miscreants.' So now we're just waiting for Amber and Eddie to get here. Unfortunately, that may take several days because Amber has to get all her luggage through customs at the airport. Great. *eye roll* Anyway, I don't own House of Anubis, but until Amber gets through security, enjoy Chapter eighteen: Tell Me What Happened.**

* * *

Chapter eighteen: Tell Me What Happened

I sat up straight in my bed, screaming my lungs out.

Amber shot up from her bed, glancing around to see what was going on. _Okay_, I thought to myself, my shrieks dying out, _I'm okay. I'm not being dragged off to the isolation room or whatever_. Just to make sure, I looked at my surroundings. I was in the bedroom I shared with Amber in Anubis House. I wasn't in a psychiatric hospital, and there wasn't a third bed, so Aria wasn't real.

Then it hit me.

That had all been a dream.

When I realized that it had all been a dream, my heart rate started to slow back to normal. Okay, that had just been a dream. I was fine. Or at least, I could tell myself that I was fine and eventually I'd believe it. The door was thrown open –scaring me into screeching once more –but when I realized who it was I calmed down again.

"What happened?" Fabian asked, worry on his face. Mara, Joy, and Patricia followed him inside, concern on all of their faces.

"I'm–" I broke off. My throat hurt from screaming so loud, and my voice sounded like someone had thrown a cat into a blender. I tried again, speaking softly so it wouldn't hurt as bad. "I'm fine. It was just a nightmare."

"Some nightmare," Amber huffed. "You scared me half to death."

"Sorry," I whispered in a hoarse voice. Ouch, my throat really hurt now.

Fabian seemed to know that I really didn't want to talk about my nightmare, so he ordered Mara, Joy, and Patricia out. They all started to argue that they had more right to be there than he did, something to do with girl solidarity, but Fabian managed to get them back to their room anyway. Once the three girls were gone, Fabian came back in and stood in front of my bed.

"Nina, are you okay?" he asked in a soft voice people normally used for approaching scared animals.

Unable to speak, I nodded. I could tell Fabian had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"Nina, you sounded like someone had thrown a cat in a blender," Fabian stated, making me chuckled, though it hurt to do so. That's exactly what I had thought. "What made your nightmare so scary that it sent you screaming?"

I shook my head. No. Not only was it physically impossible for me to answer, but it was emotionally impossible as well. I couldn't do it; not now, not while the memory was still fresh in my mind. Fabian seemed to realize this, and he sighed.

"I've got to go, but can we talk about it tomorrow? Or later today, I guess, seeing as its one a.m."

I nodded. I guess we'd have to talk about my nightmare eventually, but I really didn't want to. After I nodded to Fabian, he patted my shoulder in a comforting manner and walked out the door, making sure to close it behind him. Now I was left alone with Amber and my thoughts.

"Night Nina," Amber yawned, lying back down. "I'm going back to sleep."

Scratch that –I was left alone with my thoughts.

I knew that if I went back to sleep I would be pulled back into that awful nightmare, so I stayed in a sitting position and stared out the window. I could just barely see the main road that wound past the school, and I watched the occasional pinprick of light from a car zooming up and down the stretch of highway.

* * *

When the sun started to come up, I stifled the urge to sigh. It was almost time to 'wake up'. When my alarm clock beeped about twenty minutes later, I reached over and hit the snooze button, even though I wasn't sleeping. Amber's alarm clock sounded a few minutes later, waking her up with a 'Good morning princess!' repeating in a horrible girly voice. Was that what Amber woke up to every morning?

"Why are you still up here?" Amber asked groggily, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face. "Aren't you normally downstairs before I get up?"

I nodded; I still didn't want to speak in case my throat still hurt. Amber huffed before grabbing her clothes and making her way to the bathroom. I decided I might as well get up and made my way over to my dresser, a little unsteady due to lack of sleep the night before.

Once I was dressed –and thankful it was a Friday –I made my way downstairs. When I got to where everyone was having breakfast, I sank down beside Fabian and rested my head on the table. Staying awake after my nightmare had _not_ been a good idea. I felt a hand on my head and bolted up, fearful that I had fallen back asleep and was back in that awful nightmare. Thankfully, I saw Fabian pulling his hand back, so I knew it had been him.

"Are you okay?" he whisper-asked. I nodded, still not sure about my throat. Fabian didn't look convinced, but he dropped the subject. Amber came down a few seconds later, and after breakfast I walked to class with her and Fabian.

I went to my first class, wrote down notes, and started to think about why I'd had that dream last night. I remembered reading somewhere that dreams were the mind's way of organizing thoughts and the day's occurrences, but there was nothing that would explain that dream. Maybe the dream had just been to show me what my life would've been like if Aria had been real or if I'd been admitted to a hospital instead of Anubis House.

When I made my way to science, I knew Fabian would expect me to say something, at least hi, so I tried to see if my throat felt better by saying hi to one of the guys from Isis House. I think his name was Chris or something like that.

"Hi," I greeted, walking past. My voice sounded a little hoarse, but it didn't sound cat-in-the-blender bad like it had last night, and my throat didn't hurt when I said it. I took that as a good sign.

"Hey," Chris acknowledged, waving slightly. Okay, awkward. I hadn't thought he'd actually notice I said anything. Back at my old school I was Mad Martin. Here it was more like I was Invisible Martin.

I walked into the science room, sank down in my chair, and waited for Fabian. It didn't take long for him to come in and sit beside me.

"How are you?" he asked before he was even fully in his seat.

I shrugged. "I'm fine. No harm done."

Fabian didn't look convinced. "You look like you didn't even go back to sleep last night. You didn't, did you?"

I started to lie and say yes, I did go back to sleep, but the look on his face had me telling the truth. "No, I didn't."

"You've been up since one a.m.?" Fabian asked in a hushed voice. I nodded, not wanting to say anything else.

Mr. Sweet came in and started the lesson, making it impossible for Fabian to ask me any more questions.

Fabian didn't get the chance to ask me about my nightmare that day, so I had sort of pushed it out of my mind by bed time. That wasn't such a good thing, as I would soon find out.

* * *

I had the same dream, minus the good part at the beginning where Aria was real and all my lies were true, and sat up screaming again at around one o'clock. Fabian came running again, so did Mara, Joy, and Patricia, but the girls left quickly when they realized I'd just had another bad dream.

Fabian looked at me, concern filling his gaze, but I forced him to leave. After I managed to get him out of the room, I closed the door and sat down on my bed. Guess there would be another sleepless night for me.

I had only slept a collective twelve hours since Thursday night. It was Monday morning. Every night the nightmare came back. Every night I was in a psychiatric hospital, being forced into a strait jacket. The first night it had been because Patricia had hurt Amber and I was blamed for it. Friday night it was because someone started chasing me, but no one else could see him. Saturday night was because the nurses simply didn't like me. And last night it was because Fabian tried to kill me and make it look like suicide.

I was a nervous wreck.

I could barely keep my eyes open, but at the same time I couldn't fall back asleep. I knew that if I tried I would be right back in that nightmare. I figured I was becoming a self-induced insomniac, which just added another thing on my freak-show list of problems.

When I 'got up' this morning, I actually borrowed Amber's makeup bag and found some makeup that would hide the dark circles under my eyes. No one needed to know that I hadn't been sleeping. At least the waking up screaming had stopped. Now I just bolted awake.

At breakfast I was unusually quiet, even for me, and when Fabian tried to start a conversation I just said "Mhmm" and "Okay" like I knew what he was talking about. I wobbled a little on my way to school, but other than that I was fine. Well, I was able to pretend I was fine, and for me that amounted to the same thing.

After school –I hadn't paid attention to any of the lessons, which I knew would come back to bite me sooner or later –I made my way back to Anubis House and pulled myself up the stairs and into the attic. Victor had told me yesterday that I was allowed back in the attic, so now I felt comfortable staying in the house again. I was just settling down when a knock sounded on the door and Fabian walked inside.

"Hey," he greeted, making his way over and sitting down in front of me. "You've been a little . . . off lately. Are you okay?"

I nodded, my standard response when I didn't know what to say. Fabian frowned. Obviously he didn't like that answer.

"Nina, you look like you're half dead. You're not okay."

"If you knew, then why'd you ask?" I mumbled, not sure where this would end up going.

Fabian sighed. "I was hoping you'd tell me the truth."

Aria laughed from her place across the room. Her visits had become more frequent since the nightmares started, an irony that wasn't lost on me. "Yeah right, like Nina would tell you the truth! She's just too afraid to admit you're in her nightmares."

I would've told her to shut up, but I knew it wouldn't work. Instead, I looked back at Fabian and wondered just what I should tell him.

"Is it the nightmares?" Fabian asked before I had made my decision. I nodded, which earned me a sigh from him. "Nina, you can't just stay awake because you're having nightmares. Maybe if you told someone about them, they'd go away."

Would that really work? Would telling someone about my nightmare make it go away? There was only one way to find out. So I took a deep breath and started to tell Fabian about my dream.

"The first one started out okay," I began. "I woke up –how can you wake up in a dream? –and yeah, I felt like something was wrong, but nothing seemed out of place. So I went downstairs and sat next to you. You said something about a redo on that picnic we'd had on Wednesday, and Aria offered to work on my hair. But here's the thing: Aria was a real person. Amber talked to her, and you saw her, and she was real. When school was over, I got a call from my aunt Lily, who doesn't really exist. All my lies were true."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Fabian commented, scooting over so we were sitting side by side.

I sighed. "But that was only the first part of my dream. The second part started when I woke up –again, how do wake up in a dream? –in a psychiatric facility. My whole history in the place came to me, and I knew that Gran had sent me there instead of taking me home. I went to go see Dr. Jenks, we got in an argument over how I shouldn't be there, and I ended up going to the common room. Amber was there –she was ADHD –and so was Patricia –she had severe anger issues. Then you walked in."

Fabian tilted his head in confusion, and I could tell he was wondering why he'd been in a mental institution. I decided to throw him a bone and explain why he was there.

"In my dream, you had about the same problem as me. You saw a guy your age named Archer who never ever shut up. We started talking, but then there was a commotion outside the room. I went to go see what was going on, and I found Patricia trying to stab Amber with a fork. So I took the fork from Patricia just in time for Trudy –she was a nurse –to see me. Of course she assumed I was the one who hurt Amber, so she called an emergency team. They came and strapped me into a strait jacket, and you poked your head out the door. I saw the look of disgust on your face as you went back in."

I felt the sting of unshed tears at the corner of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. No, I was _not_ going to cry. Fabian put his arm around my shoulder in a side-hug, which I enjoyed but didn't want. I didn't want to be the one who needed comforting.

"Nina, I'd never do that," he whispered. "You don't have to say any more about your nightmare; I think I understand."

I shook my head. "No, I have to finish. After you went back into the room, the doctors stuck me with some sort of knock out drug, and the last thing I remembered I was being pulled to an isolation room. And that was just Thursday's nightmare."

"They were different?"

I nodded. "Yeah, the one Thursday was that one. On Friday, the good part at the beginning wasn't there and I was being stuffed into a strait jacket because I was being chased by a guy no one else could see. Saturday was because the nurses just didn't like me. And last night–" I broke off, not sure how to continue.

"It's okay," Fabian reassured me. "You're fine. Nothing's going to hurt you."

I took a deep, raggedy breath before continuing. "Last night they put me in a strait jacket because you tried to kill me and make it look like a suicide."

I swear I felt Fabian's heart stop.

"I did what?" His voice came out in a horrified whisper. I repeated the short explanation, and I could tell Fabian was appalled by what I had told him. "Why would I do that in your dream? Are you afraid of me?"

I shook my head fervently. "No, no, I'm not afraid you, Fabian. I'm afraid that you'll–" I broke off, realizing how childish and clingy my fear was.

"You're afraid that I'll what?"

I knew he wasn't going to leave this alone, so I whispered "I'm afraid that you'll leave me like everyone else did. And I know that sounds stupid and clingy and foolish, but I'm honest to God afraid of being left by the people I consider friends."

Fabian's only response was to hug me tighter.

I allowed myself to enjoy the feeling of his arms around me, if only because I wanted to escape the horror brought by the memories of the nightmares. Eventually I managed to say something that had nothing to do with my fears or my condition, and Fabian choked out a laugh before replying.

We talked for a little while longer before I yawned against my will. Even though I was dead tired, I didn't want to go to sleep. Fabian laughed when I shook my head, trying to stay awake.

"You know, you could just go to sleep," he suggested.

"No, I'm not tired," I protested. "See? Wide awake."

"More like 'See? Passing out,'" Fabian joked. "Seriously Nina, just go to sleep. You haven't had a good night's sleep in three days."

I shook my head, this time in protest. "Nope, I'm not tired." Of course, my argument was a little ruined by the yawn at the end.

Fabian laughed again. "Nina, if you're not tired then I'm the king of Switzerland."

"Does Switzerland have a king?" I asked, my head a little fuzzy from exhaustion.

"I honestly have no idea," Fabian said, a smile on his face.

I rested my head on his shoulder, thankful for the warmth. Maybe I would just rest my eyes for a minute. Yeah, I'd just rest my eyes. That's all I was doing.

Fabian started humming softly, lulling me into a deep, restful sleep.

That night, the nightmare didn't return.

* * *

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday! Since I update at school, I have to put the chapters onto my flash drive, and –me being an idiot –I got the wrong chapter. I give you full permission to yell at me. *hangs head in shame over her own stupidity* So on a different note, Nina's afraid of being left by her friends. I think most of us can relate to that fear, though probably not on the same level as her. Next chapter Jerome and Alfie ask for help with something and another one of Nina's problems comes back to haunt her. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: We just got word that Amber finally made it through customs, so she and Eddie will be here soon. Then we can finally exact our new plan, courtesy of mine and Jerome's planning. I still don't own House of Anubis, but until they show up, enjoy Chapter nineteen: Problems Rear Their Ugly Heads.**

* * *

Chapter nineteen: Problems Read Their Ugly Heads

The next day, I woke up to find Fabian sleeping beside me, his arm wrapped around me. I wiggled my way out of his grasp, hoping he wouldn't wake up. Thankfully, he stayed asleep. I snuck out of the attic and into my room, where I was finally able to find out what time it was.

10:23 a.m.

I was late for school!

I frantically rushed through getting dressed, yanking a brush through my unruly hair while Aria shouted "Run girl run!" I was just starting to hurry down the stairs when I remembered: Fabian was still asleep in the attic. Crap!

So I dashed back up to the attic and found him fast asleep where I'd left him. He looked so peaceful that I was a little reluctant to wake him up, but we both had to get to school. I shook Fabian's shoulder, making him flail awake.

"Wha?" he questioned, seeing me already in my uniform and frantically getting him up.

"Fabian, we're late for school! It's ten thirty!" I said in a rush. "Come on, we've got to go."

Fabian bolted into a standing position, pushing past me in his haste to get ready. I found myself smiling as I hurried to catch up. You could say what you wanted about Fabian, but no one could deny his eagerness to learn. I saw him dart into his room and decided to wait on him; it'd be best if we went to school together, that way we wouldn't get yelled at alone.

Once Fabian came out, more or less ready to go, we both started jogging to the school. At least we managed to run through the door just as the bell that signaled class change rang. Now we wouldn't end up walking in halfway through class. Fabian and I went our separate ways, calling out a 'see you later' before we lost sight of each other in the crowd.

* * *

After school, I took my time walking back to Anubis House. I just wanted to take a second to be alone. Yeah, I'd been alone when I was in the midst of my nightmares, but now that they were apparently over, I wanted to take a minute to be by myself. But my minute was over much too soon, and, quicker than I would've liked, Anubis House loomed in front of me.

I made my way inside, changed into a pair of jeans and a top –also taking a little bit of time to brush my hair again and try to look decent –and made my way downstairs. I passed Joy in the corridor and we both said hi to each other before going our separate ways. Joy actually wasn't that bad of a person.

When I walked into the common room, I was greeted by Jerome and Alfie's grin. It was never a good thing when they were grinning, so I was a little wary when they beckoned me over. Jerome addressed me first.

"Nina! Can you help us out?" he questioned with a pleading look on his face.

I glanced at the two pranksters. "Help you out with what? I'm not pranking anyone."

"We weren't asking you to," Alfie stated simply. "We just wanted your opinion on our Driver's Ed project. Mara's gone to town with Mick, so we can't ask her, we can't find Fabian, and you're the third smartest person in the house, so we figured we'd ask you!"

I wasn't sure whether to feel complimented or insulted by the whole 'third smartest' thing, but I decided to help them. Jerome and Alfie never worked on their projects, let alone asked for help, so it was the least I could do.

When I agreed, Jerome handed me his tablet and a set of headphones. I glanced at him quizzically, but he just said to put them on and watch their video. I sighed, but did as instructed. It couldn't be too bad, right? It _was_ a Driver's Ed project, after all. My opinion changed almost instantly when the video started playing.

It was about car crashes.

The first picture was of two totaled cars, crushed against each other. The sound started on the second picture, which was of a happy family driving along. The father was driving, and the mother looked a little too cheerful to be just riding in a vehicle. But the thing that almost physically hurt me was the little girl sitting in the backseat. She looked to be about seven years old.

To me, it looked like my family.

The video kept playing, showing the family driving down the road, laughing at jokes that weren't heard, then the dad looked into the rearview mirror just as he was pulling up to a stop sign. I instinctively knew what was going to happen next. He'd pull out a little too far, then another car would crash into him, and the parents would be dead, leaving a little girl to live without them.

I hadn't noticed the world was growing dark until it was all black.

* * *

_I found myself sitting in the back of a light green van, wearing a fairy costume and bouncing up and down from a sugar rush. My dad was sitting in the front seat, driving. He looked in his rearview mirror just as he was pulling up to a stop sign, and we pulled out too far._

_I tried to yell out to him –No! Go back! –but I couldn't make myself speak. I couldn't do anything but sit there and watch as the black car collided with the van, crushing Mom and Dad against the interior. I felt the sharp sting of pain as my leg twisted too far and broke, and I saw as Mom and Dad started bleeding from their wounds._

_I cried out to them, finally finding my voice, but it was too late. The world was fading to black as the first sirens sounded._

* * *

The world was still black as I heard something other than the sirens. It sounded like a voice. What were they saying? Where was I? What happened? Then, just as I was about to give up on hearing the voice, it got louder and clearer. I could just make out what it was saying.

"Nina? Nina! Come on, wake up."

Who was that? It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. Still, though I didn't know who it was, I tried to do as they said. I fought my way out of the black and felt my eyes flutter open.

When the world came into focus, I realized I was laying on the ground in the common room with someone kneeling over me. It took me a second to realize it was Fabian.

"Wha –what happened?" I asked, propping myself up on my elbows. Fabian sighed in relief.

"You're okay," he breathed. The worry on his face was enough to make me nervous.

"Fabian, what happened?" I asked again as he helped me sit up. "I was watching Jerome and Alfie's project and . . ." I trailed off, remembering. I'd relived my parents' death again for the second time in two months. That wasn't normal, not for me.

"Nina, are you okay?" Alfie asked, strangely serious for him. "We didn't mean for anything to happen . . ."

I stood with Fabian's help; my head hurt from where I'd fallen. Once I was on my feet, I turned to the two pranksters. "It's not your fault guys. It's mine. I should've stopped watching the video when I realized what it was about."

"Why'd you black out?" Alfie asked. I could tell he was genuinely curious, but I didn't know whether or not to tell him. It wasn't like I was going to tell him I had schizophrenia, but if I said anything I'd tell him about my PTSD. But I didn't think anyone would really be surprised I had PTSD. So I made a split second decision.

"My parents died in a car crash. I was in it. I've got PTSD from it," I explained as quickly as I could. I didn't want to think about it. I could feel Fabian stiffen beside me and I knew he was shocked that I had admitted that to Alfie and Jerome.

"Is that why you freaked out on Halloween when I staged a car accident?" Jerome questioned.

I nodded. "Yeah, but I didn't want to say anything about it. I figured you guys would treat me different, so I didn't say anything."

"Nah," Alfie smirked. "It's fine. No one cares if you've got a funny disease."

I chuckled. "Alfie, it's not a disease."

Alfie tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy. I almost laughed; he looked so funny. Apparently he didn't know what a mental illness was. So I took a second to explain it to him, and when I finished he nodded solemnly.

"Oh."

Yeah, this wasn't awkward at all.

After Jerome and Alfie left the common room, I sat down on the couch with Fabian. I found myself wondering if Fabian would say anything and how long it would take before he did. I was betting on at least a minute.

"Why'd you tell them?" Fabian asked about twenty seconds later. Wow, that hadn't taken long at all.

I shrugged. "I guess I figured they'd make up something worse and tell someone. At least now it won't be a lie."

"But why did you tell _Jerome_ and _Alfie_?" Fabian stressed the two pranksters' names.

I sighed. "Did you see anyone else there? Who was I going to explain my blackout to before they'd tell anyone?"

"Good point," Fabian stated. He was silent for a second before he asked another question. "Why did you black out?"

That was the question I had been dreading. "My parents died in a car crash; that much you know already. And every Halloween at exactly eleven seventeen I relive the crash. But sometimes if I see a crash or something about a crash that reminds me of the one I was in with my parents, I relive it again. This is the only time that's happened in four years."

I remembered the last time I'd relived the crash on a day that wasn't Halloween. Gran and I had gone to town –I can't remember why –and on the way back we passed a group of emergency vehicles. I remembered Gran telling me to look away, but I hadn't listened. Instead, I peered out the window and saw the two car collision.

When I saw the body of the driver being covered with a sheet, that's when I lost it. The world went black, and I found myself in the back of my parents' van. When I came to, Gran had pulled over and was shaking me awake.

"Nina?" Fabian's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Are you okay?"

I banished the thoughts from my head as I answered "Yeah, I'm fine. Gosh, this week is awful and it's only Tuesday afternoon." I tried to joke, but from Fabian's expression I could tell that it fell a little flat.

"Hey," Fabian said suddenly. "Next Friday is Parent Day. I guess you'll get to meet my insane family, huh?"

I chuckled at that. I was looking forward to meeting his little sister. She sounded hilarious.

"So, what is the point of Parent Day again?" I asked.

"It's pretty much just a way for us to see our families before Christmas," Fabian explained. "The school doesn't let us go home for Christmas, so they let our families come a few weeks before."

"Oh. That seems fair enough."

We talked for a little while longer, skirting past the topic of my blackout and all related issues. We ended up talking about our funniest family memories. I was shocked to find out that Fabian had a cousin with the same name as him. Fabian laughed when I told him about my grandfather –who I only had a few memories of –and the time he tried to teach me to fish.

The entire afternoon passed, and for the first time in days I didn't dread the night.

* * *

**Okay, so a bunch has happened in the last few chapters. I know there was a lot, so I think next chapter will be pure fluff. What do you think? It'll probably be about Parent Day, so there will be a little bit of questioning and such, but mostly it'll just be fluff. Oh, and if anyone has gotten a little lost, next chapter will be skipping to the second weekend in December, so this is the last of November you'll see in this story. I repeat: this chapter was in November, so the next chapter will be December! Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: There's a slight problem with our plan; Amber and Alfie don't like it. Yeah, Amber and Eddie finally arrived, but now Amber has decided she wants to plan our scheme to get the ownership papers, and Alfie is backing her up. Fabian of all people called in the middle of our third argument on the subject and acted as a mediator. He got us all to agree to a compromise –we make our individual plans and whichever one receives the most votes will be the one we use. Now why hadn't I thought of that? I don't own House of Anubis, but until we beat Amber and Alfie, enjoy Chapter twenty: Parent Day.**

* * *

Chapter twenty: Parent Day

Two weeks passed by uneventfully. Aria still showed up, but she was less talkative than before my blackout. And as for my blackout, Jerome and Alfie quickly spread the news all over Anubis House, just as I knew they would. By that Friday, everyone in Anubis House knew I had PTSD.

I didn't care about that, believe it or not; I was more worried that someone would find out about my schizophrenia. But no one treated me bad because of what they learned. In fact, I think they treated me nicer. It was completely different from what I had come to expect of people in general, but it was a nice change.

But nothing I had ever faced –be it hospitals, delusions, or the reoccurring nightmares –had prepared me for the horror of what I had to deal with today: everyone else's families.

Today was Parent Day, and everyone's family had shown up. Well, everyone's except mine. Gran had called yesterday and told me that she couldn't make it, but she was sending my Christmas present by mail. I hadn't told her that I told a few people about my condition, and Gran didn't ask about my condition at all. She had spent years pretending that I was fine and my delusions didn't exist. Gran meant well, but sometimes I thought that she needed a reality check. After a while we said our goodbyes, and that was that.

That had been yesterday. Today was a different story.

Amber had forced me to sit while she worked on my hair –I refused to let her put any makeup on me today, and for once she listened. Once she deemed me ready, she led me downstairs where everyone was waiting.

Amber immediately rushed over to an older man in a business suit and tackled him with what everyone liked to call an 'Amber hug.' That must've been her father. As I looked around, I saw many, many people that I didn't know. At one point I got a little confused because I saw two Patricia's, but when Joy called one of them Piper, I knew they were twins.

It seemed that only a few of the Anubis residents were an only child. Amber had no siblings, nor did Alfie, Mick, or Joy. Everyone else had at least one sibling, be they older, younger, or the same age. Amber saw me still standing by the stairs and rushed me around, introducing me to everyone.

"This is my dad," she said, pulling me toward the man she had hugged earlier. "Daddy, this is Nina, my friend."

"Nice to meet you, sir," I greeted. He shook my hand and promptly ignored me. Amber rolled her eyes.

"Daddy doesn't really like meeting new people," she explained. "Come on, let's go meet everyone!"

That sounded worse than my nightmares, but when Amber had her mind set on something, it usually happened. So I met Piper, Patricia's twin sister, and their parents first. I met Alfie's parents, who acted nothing like the prankster. I met Jerome's little sister Poppy, the only one from his family to show up –apparently their mother had to work or something. I met Joy's parents, Mara's family, and Mick's parents. By then I was getting a little confused and really dizzy from all the running around Amber was having me do, but I knew there was one more family I hadn't met: Fabian's.

Amber pulled me over to Fabian, who was talking adamantly about something to do with science to an older couple while a tiny girl sat on the floor and tugged at his pants leg. Amber giggled at the sight and pushed me forward. It was just my luck to crash into Fabian and send us both falling to the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized as I tried to stand up. "Amber pushed me and I crashed into you and it's all my fault."

A soft chuckle from my left surprised me, and I looked over to see the woman I assumed was Fabian's mother reaching out a hand to me. I took it gratefully and let her help me to my feet. While she was helping me up, I noticed Fabian's father was doing the same for him. When we were all standing, I tried to apologize again.

"I'm really sorry. I should've stopped myself from falling," I said, brushing some dust off of my shirt.

"It wasn't your fault," Fabian stated. "Amber's pushy, sometimes in the literal sense."

"From what I've seen," Fabian's mother commented "she's more than just pushy. That Amber is a force to be reckoned with. It's a good thing she's your friend instead of your enemy, Fabian. Otherwise you'd probably end up severely hurt."

I laughed a little at that. Mrs. Rutter summed Amber up all right. I suddenly realized that I should introduce myself, so that's what I did.

"I'm Nina," I said as politely as I could.

"We know dear," Mrs. Rutter said. "Fabian's told us a lot about you."

I looked over at Fabian, who was bright pink. What had he told them? I trusted him not to tell them about my condition, but what's to say he didn't mention Aria in passing? No, this was Fabian we were talking about. He wouldn't even tell his dog.

I talked with Mrs. Rutter for a little while, but after a few minutes something started tugging on my pants leg. I glanced down to see the little girl I had noticed earlier standing there, her big brown eyes looking at me with curiosity.

"Are you Nina?" she asked, still tugging my jeans.

I gently pried her hands off before answering. "Yeah, I'm Nina. Who're you?" I had my suspicions, but I wanted conformation before I said anything.

"I'm Chloe!" the tiny girl giggled. "Fabian's my big brother and he talks about you _all _the time!"

I smiled. "Well, he tells me about you a lot too. Come on, let's go and sit in the common room, okay?"

Chloe smiled brightly at me. "Okay!"

After telling Fabian's parents that I would look after their daughter, I led the small girl into the common room. Most of the other residents had chosen to either talk to their parents in the corridor, their bed rooms, or the kitchen, so the common room was empty except for us.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked Chloe once we were sitting on the couch.

The little girl looked at me curiously. "You sound funny. Why do you sound funny, Niiiiina?" Chloe drew out my name.

I honestly hadn't expected that. "Um, what do you mean, Chloe?"

Chloe sighed. "You don't sound like everyone! Your voice sounds funny. Why?"

Oh, she meant my accent. "Well, Chloe, it's because I'm from America. I'm not from England like you and everyone else."

"Ohhhhh," Chloe said. "Cool! Are you as old as Fabian? 'Cause he's _old_. And Mummy and Daddy are _really_ old, but don't tell them I said that," she added in a whisper.

I had been right. Fabian's little sister was hilarious.

With a smile on my face, I said "Yeah, I'm sixteen, just like your brother. How old are you?"

"Six! My birthday was last month, but Christmas is soon, so I get more presents, yay! Hey, do you wanna play?" Chloe asked, jumping off the couch and sprawling out on the floor before pretending to swim.

Before I could answer, Fabian walked in. I imagined the sight must've been a little weird. His sister was lying on the floor, acting like a fish or something, while I was staring at her with confusion and amusement. He just shook his head and sat down beside me while we watched the little girl.

"Your sister is pretty entertaining," I commented.

Fabian laughed. "Yeah, that's one way of putting it. She's a handful, but everyone was at her age."

I chuckled at that. I definitely was a handful at six. My parents kept urging me to talk to people my own age and I just kept spending time with my imaginary friend. Now I was more mature, but I still didn't hang out with many people unless I was forced. It was mainly Fabian and Amber that I spent time with, and sometimes Mara.

After a while of just watching Chloe, she seemed to notice that we weren't joining her. The six year old got up from her spot on the floor, marched up to us, and put her hands on her hips.

"Come on," she demanded. "Let's go."

Chloe grabbed my hand and tugged me off the couch. We ended up going to the kitchen, where Trudy was chatting with Joy and her parents.

"Oh, hello dearie," Trudy said when she saw Chloe. "You're Fabian's sister, aren't you?"

Chloe grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! I'm Chloe. Can I make a snack, Miss Trudy?"

Trudy laughed as she patted Chloe on the shoulder in a comforting manner. "Of course you can. Nina, would you be a dear and help Chloe? I'd ask Fabian, but I don't trust him alone in the kitchen. No offense, Fabian," Trudy added, noticing Fabian standing by the door.

Fabian smiled. "It's okay Trudy. I know I can't cook."

Trudy smiled as she led Joy and her parents out of the kitchen so they wouldn't have to continuously move out of the way. Once they were gone, I bent down and asked Chloe what she wanted to make.

"Biscuits!" she chirped.

"Um, breakfast at this hour?" I asked, looking at the clock. It was about two in the afternoon. School had been canceled because of Parent Day. I heard Fabian laugh from behind me.

"Nina, she means cookies," he explained, still laughing. "You're still stuck on Americanisms."

"Huh. So cookies, right Cleo?" I asked. I had no idea when I had decided to call her Cleo, but I went along with it.

"No! Biscuits," Chloe grumbled, crossing her little arms. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine, we'll make biscuits. What kind?"

"Chocolate chip!" the small girl said with a huge grin on her face. Fabian's parents were probably going to kill me for giving their little girl chocolate, but I didn't care. This was going to be fun.

* * *

An hour later, I just pulled the last tray of cookies out of the oven. After letting them cool for a few minutes, I shook the pan over a huge plate Trudy had let me use and handed Chloe and Fabian each a cookie.

"What do you think?" I asked as they ate them.

Chloe smiled up at me. "Yummy!"

"I like it," Fabian said. "Try one."

I shook my head. "No, sometimes sugar can affect my . . . condition. I don't want to risk it."

Fabian sighed. "Nina, you can't live your whole life afraid of your condition. Take a chance and eat a biscuit."

I grinned at his stupid joke. For most people, eating a cookie wasn't exactly a risk. I decided to shrug off the worry I had and picked up a cookie. Hmm, not bad. It was actually the best cookie I had ever made.

"This is pretty good," I admitted slowly. "But I'm only eating one."

Fabian smiled. "One is enough."

Before I could say anything else, I felt someone tugging on my pants leg. When I glanced down, Chloe was standing beside me and gesturing to the plate of cookies.

"Can I have another?" she asked. I smiled at the little girl before handing her another cookie. "Thanks!"

Chloe walked away, munching happily on the chocolate chip cookie. Fabian and I looked at each other and started laughing. I don't know why we were laughing, but once we started it seemed like we couldn't stop.

After we finally managed to calm down, I decided to take the plate of cookies around and give them to everyone. I made my way to Amber and her father and offered them a cookie.

"Thanks Nina!" Amber said, taking one. Her father seemed not to want one, but Amber made him take it. After telling them to enjoy the cookies –and I got a look from Amber for using an Americanism –I went to go find the rest of the house.

Once I was sure everyone got a cookie, I noticed that I had about three left. Hmm, maybe eating one more wouldn't hurt . . . Smiling to myself, I took one and bit into it. Mm, yum.

* * *

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Rutter," I said. "And I'm really sorry about giving Chloe two cookies. I didn't know she would end up like . . . well, like that."

Mrs. Rutter laughed goodheartedly. "It's not your fault Nina. You didn't know. Fabian on the other hand . . ." she trailed off warningly.

Fabian ducked his head shyly. "I'm sorry. I should've remembered."

"Nina, Nina, Nina!" Chloe said in a hyper rush. "Can I come back an' see you? You an' Fabian are fun!"

I smiled. "Yeah, you can come back and see me. Fabian will be here too."

"Yay!" Chloe said just before she grabbed me in a tight hug. I was stunned still for a second, but I recovered enough to hug her back.

After I managed to pry her off, Chloe was picked up by her mother and they started to walk away. Fabian said goodbye to his family once more before they left. Once they were gone, he turned to me.

"You're great with kids," he commented.

"I guess," I said. "I think the last time I was completely open was when I was a kid, so they're the only ones I really know how to deal with. I can barely deal with people my own age."

"Well, you deal well with me," he commented, leading me outside to watch all the families drive off.

"That's because you let me," I retorted as we sat down on the steps. I watched the last car pull away. Fabian said nothing for the longest time, but when he did, I was confused.

"Nina, there's something I need to tell you," he said suddenly. "Something very important."

"What is it?" I asked.

But just before Fabian could say anything, an earsplitting scream came from behind us.

* * *

**Dun dun da! Cliffhanger! Who do you think screamed? What did you think of the chapter? Sorry about being two days late with the chapter, but I mis-copied it on Monday and forgot all about it on Tuesday! Silly me, right? Oh, and I'm not really sure if sugar actually effects schizophrenia or not; its just a guess. Next chapter Nina learns something about Fabian, something very important. Thanks for reading!**

**~C**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: Amber and Alfie still haven't finished their plan yet! ARGH! I mean come on, Eddie, Jerome, Patricia, and I have finished our plans –after a slight disagreement over if we should all plan together or not (we decided not) –so can't Amber and Alfie just hurry up? Seriously! Sorry about my ranting. I don't own House of Anubis, but until I beat the crap outta Amber and Alfie for being so slow, enjoy Chapter twenty-one: You Like Me?**

* * *

Chapter twenty-one: You Like Me?

A loud, earsplitting scream came from behind us. I jumped, looking around frantically trying to figure out who screamed. But when I looked at Fabian, he hadn't reacted at all.

"Did you hear someone scream?" I asked slowly, not really wanting to hear the answer I was sure I was going to get.

"No . . . did you?"

I nodded my head dejectedly. "Yeah. Great, I knew I shouldn't have eaten those cookies."

"I thought you'd only had one," Fabian said, confused.

"Well, I had one when you told me to, but after I gave out the rest there were a few left and . . . yeah. So now I'm hallucinating even worse than normal."

Fabian wrapped an arm around my shoulders, hugging me close. After a few minutes we got up and made our way back into the house. Amber was waiting on us with a huge smile on her expectant face.

"Fabian! Did you tell her?" she demanded, bouncing on the tips of her toes. "Well? Did you?"

"Tell me what?" I asked, looking at Fabian. But before Fabian could say anything, Amber hit him on the arm.

"You didn't tell her?!" she hissed. "Rutter, I told you to tell her while you were outside!"

"I was going to, but she had a –a problem," Fabian stuttered over the word problem, making me sigh.

"Just call it what it was," I said. "It was a hallucination. I thought I heard someone scream."

Amber pulled me out of Fabian's grasp and scooped me up in a hug. "It'll be okay," she murmured. "You'll be fine."

"What's wrong?" I heard Mara ask from behind me. Amber immediately let me go and faced the bookish girl.

"Um, Nina fell down! I was being a good friend and giving her a hug," Amber lied. I had to bite down a smile; she was getting to be as bad a liar as I was.

Mara looked like she didn't believe her, but let it slide. Maybe she had to do homework, maybe she had to go see Mick. I didn't know, nor did I really care at that moment. I was just glad she didn't pry. Once Mara was gone, Amber turned back to me.

"So, I'll leave you two alone so Fabian can tell you what he should've told you about ten minutes ago," she said, taking small steps backward. "I'll see you two afterwards. Tell me what happens!"

Then Amber walked out of the main corridor, leaving Fabian and I stunned. Well, I amended after glancing at Fabian, I was stunned. Fabian was nervous. Why was he so nervous?

"Well this is awkward," I commented.

"You have no idea," Aria said, walking into the room. "Come on, Nina, you know what he's going to say."

I actually had no freakin idea, but I wasn't going to say that. Besides, I wasn't about to talk to her.

"Nina?" Fabian asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Hey, I thought you blacked out on me."

I shook my head, clearing the few remaining tendrils of thought from my mind. "No, I'm fine."

"Aria?"

"Mm hm," I mumbled. When I glanced up, I saw said redhead smirking at me.

"Nina? Nina, ignore her. Just because she's there, doesn't mean she has control over you," Fabian said slowly. "Make her go away. You can do it."

"No I can't," I said softly. "I can't make her go away. Fabian, what am I going to do?"

"Give me your phone," he said suddenly.

"What?" That so wasn't what I had expected him to say.

"Give me your cell phone," Fabian said again. I handed him the phone and watched as he scrolled through my contacts until he came to a name that I was seriously hoping he wouldn't call. Dr. Jenks. Within second, Fabian had the doctor on the phone.

"Hello, Dr. Jenks? This is Fabian, a close friend of Nina Martin. I was wondering if it would be okay for me to come with Nina tomorrow. Mmm hmm, yes ma'am, of course. Yes, I'll tell her. No, you don't have to worry about me getting in the way. Alright. Thank you, Dr. Jenks. See you tomorrow."

Fabian ended the call before handing me back my phone. I couldn't even form a complete thought as I realized what Fabian had just done. He was coming with me tomorrow to see my therapist. That thought snapped me out of my state. I hit Fabian on the shoulder.

"What were you thinking?!" I demanded angrily. "Now I have to take you to see my freaking therapist?! You're not helping! I can't believe I actually thought that I liked you and could trust you!"

As I tried to calm down, I realized what I had just said. Oh crap. I told Fabian I liked him. I cannot believe I had just done that. Now he was probably going to leave and tell everyone how ignorant I was and maybe even tell them how insane I was. I had just started to turn around and walk off when I felt someone grab my hand.

I looked up to see Fabian smiling at me, a soft look in his eyes. What was he doing? Fabian pulled me close and wrapped me in his arms. At first I wasn't sure what he was doing, and then I realized he was giving me a hug. Why was he hugging me? I tried to push away, and Fabian obviously got the memo because he let me go.

"You like me?" he asked, that joyful smile still plastered on his face.

"Well . . . yeah, I do. And I know you only see me as a friend, probably not even that, and it's okay. I know how I am, and I know that you deserve better than the resident freak." I started to turn and leave before Fabian said the one thing I thought I would never heard come from anyone when talking to me.

"I like you too."

"You what?" Needless to say, I was a bit surprised.

"Nina, I wouldn't go on a fake date with anyone I didn't actually like. Why do you think I asked you on the date?" Fabian questioned, a smile still on his face.

"Because you pitied me?" I tried.

Fabian shook his head. "No, Nina. I don't pity you. You're brave and strong and beautiful. Everyone should wish they could be like you. Heck, I wish I was half as great as you. Then I'd be epic," Fabian tried to joke. It did make me smile a bit.

"Fabian, you've got it backwards," I protested. "You're brave to stick with me. You're stronger than I could ever be. I'm not going to say you're beautiful because that would just be weird, but I will say you're handsome. If I was half as great as you, I'd be amazing."

"You are amazing," Fabian countered.

We tried to one up each other with our compliments while downplaying ourselves until I eventually got fed up with it. This was getting us nowhere.

"Okay, so we're both pretty awesome," I decided. "But you seriously like me? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Nina if I had told you that I liked you before you were ready to hear it, you would've ran the other way and never spoke to me again. I know you," he explained. I had to admit he was right. "But why didn't you tell me that you like me?"

"Well, I thought you only thought I was a friend. I'm still not caught up on this whole dating thing yet, but I think that if one friend tells the other friend that they like them and the other doesn't return those feelings, then the friendship would get a bit awkward," I said in a rush.

"I guess we're both at fault," he determined. "But since we both like each other, I have a very important question for you."

"Go on," I prompted when Fabian hesitated.

"Okay. Um, Nina, since we both like each other and everything, would you be interested in possibly . . . being my girlfriend?" Fabian tried with a nervous smile.

I was stunned into silence. Fabian wanted me to be his girlfriend?! Why? I mean, I knew he just told me he liked me, but liking someone is a whole lot different than wanting to go out with them. Fabian took my silence the wrong way and started to leave.

"Wait!" I said, making him freeze in his tracks. "I was just surprised. Yes. I'll go out with you."

Fabian's small smile grew into a huge, joyous one. With a happy laugh, he grabbed me in another hug. I laughed too. I finally had a boyfriend, and he liked me for who I was, not who I pretended to be.

Fabian and I stood there in the corridor, held in each other's arms, for what felt like forever and no time at all. Our relationship might've started out with a huge secret in our way, but now there was nothing between us. I smiled to myself. This was perfect.

* * *

**Okay, so that was really short and really random. I apologize for that. But hey, Fabina is finally a reality! YES! Next chapter Fabian gets to meet Dr. Jenks. Hey, random question –Do you guys know the name of the song whose lyrics are as follows: **_**And I don't want the world to see me. I just don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am**_**. Pretty please tell me? Thanks for reading!**

** ~C**


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